Ashley Williams, BattleSpace Interview
by TheFallenSpectre
Summary: The Reapers are gone but Ashley Williams is facing a new assignment. With the galaxy having been rebuilt it's down to Ashley Williams to make everyone remember. In an exclusive interview with Diana Allers on BattleSpace. It's down to her to the story that every person should know. This is her life.
1. Chapter 1 - Prelude

**Prelude**

It had been a long year. One year to the day that Shepard sacrificed herself in order to save the universe from the Reapers. Upon returning to active duty I had been quickly promoted. Within two months I had the title of Commander and within six months sI was happily married. I'd also inherited an apartment on the citadel from my former commander, which was given to her by Admiral Anderson at the height of the war. Everything seemed to be on the up even the Alliance admiralty board looked to me for advice in the troubled times that lay ahead as they rebuilt.

It was two weeks before the planned Memorial Day, to honour the sacrifice of those who we had lost during the war that Councillor Hackett sent a message asking to come to the council chambers immediately. Such an invitation usually meant that you were needed immediately and were not to delay. Since it was my day of I had to quickly get changed into dress blues, my omni-tool beeping as another message was received, this time from my wife.

_Don't be too long seeing the council, we have plans remember x_

Of course she knew, there were no secrets between them. Although one of these days she would have liked to have been able to tell her something first. But that was one of the reasons why I married her, some may have seen it as a flaw, but it was really part of her charm.

_I'll try not to be. You know what the council is like. I'll see you when I get back x_

From the apartment it would only be a quick sky car ride to the presidium and then an elevator ride up to the council chambers. And then one last security check before being allowed in to see the council. C-Sec even before the war they were an annoyance, never very good at the job but always scanning your body for weapons. You'd have thought that after the war they would have increased their training, it seemed like they would do at first. But after so much peace they had become lax in their work. At least some of them cared about the security of the citadel, Armando Bailey mainly. Speak of the devil.

"Commander, it's good to see you. No time for small talk unfortunately, the council want to see straight away."

"Lead the way Bailey."

The man hadn't changed a stickler for duty and straight to the point. Not many like him left anymore, they maybe a pain but they were definitely needed. And Bailey was a good man. Just stuck in his ways. There was no talking as he led the way towards the council chambers just a man doing his duty as always. As they approached the doors Bailey left so I could walk in alone, clearly his job was to just make sure I was heading in. The five council members were stood on their stage in the middle of a heated discussion. It was Councillor Hackett that noticed me standing there first and directed his fellow councillors. Five of the strongest races were on the council. The Turians, Asari and Salarians as is the norm. The fourth race was Humanity the second newest race to join after the battle of the citadel where the alliance fleet saved the Destiny Ascension. And the fifth race was the Quarians. After they had reclaimed their home world, their fleet was critical towards the war effort. The Councillors all figureheads for each species, none with any real power. Well apart from Councillor Hackett.

"Ahh, Commander Lawson. We've been expecting you. As your aware it's Memorial Day in two weeks and we require your services. A celebration is being held on every council world and colony and we intend for there to be a special episode of BattleSpace being aired which we would like you to be a part of."

"Seriously Hackett, you brought me up here on my day off to talk about BattleSpace. Why would I be interested in that?"

"Because Commander, we intend for you to tell the galaxy your story. Starting from the Geth incident and ending with your marriage. The galaxy needs this Commander, it needs to be reminded about its loses. You've seen it already, with the lax attitude of C-Sec, now more than ever we need a moral boost."

This was an unusual request, normally the other council members would have their own say about it, but they were leaving it all up to Hackett. Fidgeting Turians are not a normal sight even if you live on Palaven. It was a comical sight though, it was rather distracting from the conversation going ahead.

"Councillors why so quiet, what's your take on all of this?"

It was the Turian Councillor Sparatus who spoke first.

"Commander, we may not have always seen eye to eye, but we agree with Hackett. The people are becoming content with their lot in life, leaving their guard down. Just because the reapers are now gone doesn't mean anything else is out there. We can't have another war like that at the hand of the reapers. I suggest Commander Lawson that you go home, talk to your wife and let Hackett know your response in the morning."

"Dismissed Commander."

With those words I left the council chamber and headed back to the elevator with Bailey stood by it. Looked like he had something to add to the situation, typical Bailey.

"Take my advice mam, say yes."

Not a message from Bailey, not really. More a message from Hackett, telling me to follow his orders. Great more political bull. Even if they were orders I still needed to talk it through with Miri, even if she does already know. Bringing Miri's name up on the omni-tool I rang her private number. I didn't have to wait long, the one thing about Miri is that she'd always answer when I rang.

"Ash, I take it you've seen the council?"

"Just leaving the presidium now. We need to talk."

"I know. I'll be home in an hour."

"Okay, see you at home."

That hour just dragged, being left alone with my thoughts wasn't a good idea. Being a soldier I would have to follow those orders, but having to speak in front of millions across the galaxy was far more daunting then facing the reapers. Knowing that I would have to talk to Diana Allers was not going to be fun. We had been friends once, that was before she betrayed my trust and tried to sabotage my relationship with Miri. How could I forgive that and have a proper heartfelt conversation with someone I no longer trusted. Only Miri could advise me on this.

True to her word, after exactly one hour Miri walked through the door and headed straight in my direction and greeted me in a loving embrace.

"What are you going to do Ash?"

"I don't know, it wasn't a request not really. It was more like an order from Hackett. The only thing is I'd have to talk to Allers."

"That bit I did not know. Are you sure it's her?"

"Who else would it be? It's an interview on BattleSpace. They only have the one reporter. It's going to be Allers. I'm not sure I can be so open with her, after everything she did."

"You're going to have to try though. You can't really disobey an order from Hackett. I'll be there when you do it, if you need strength just look towards me."

A weak smile passed my lips which were soon joined with Miri's. I had no choice in the matter really, but at least Miri would be there for support. With my omni-tool I sent Hackett a message telling him that I'd do it. And two weeks later I was sat next to Diana Allers waiting for the show to begin.

"No hard feelings Ash. We both need to do this."

"That's Commander Lawson. Ms Allers. We're not friends so you don't get to address me that way."

With my piece said I sat and waited for the title credits to finish and get this all over with. It wasn't long before Diana Allers was introducing the program ahead, there was only one piece on the agenda and that was lucky old me. It didn't matter how long it would take to get everything out, the program was scheduled for several days with breaks in-between. It was going to be a long week. As soon as I heard my name I walked out onto the stage. No cheering or booing just silence as the people were trying to figure out who I was. As far as they were aware there was no Ashley Lawson under Shepards command. It wasn't until they saw my face they realised who I was from all the pictures and vids that were flying about. Ashley Lawson didn't exist to them but Ashley Williams did.

* * *

**If you've read this far then I thank you for giving it a chance. If you like what you have read so far then please carry on reading. Any views or comments will be much appreciated as I carry on writing. If you have something that you want me to include then please suggest it.**

**My intention is to follow the events of Mass Effect 1, 2 and 3. Going down the route that I'm writing some of it isn't going to be canon, so bare with me.**

**Mass Effect is something that has been with me for a long time and is something that I'm never going to let go. With that in mind this is my contribution to the Mass Effect Universe.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Eden Prime

**Eden****Prime**

_Diana Allers:_ Ashley Lawson, previously Williams, the only human to have been at Commander Shepards side since the beginning. This interview is going to compromise of everything that happened before the Geth Incident and then concluding with your life after the Battle for Earth. No doubt some of you have questions, and hopefully Commander Lawson's testimony will answer all of them. Now to the beginning, Commander let's start with Eden Prime.

_Ashley:_ On the day that the Protheon Beacon was found I wasn't actually on duty. Delta squad were on downtime. So like most soldiers we were at the local bar. Unfortunately it was un-alcoholic beverages for us that night. Orders from above insisted that any marines on the ground were to remain sober even if they weren't on duty. As squad leader it was up to me enforce the rules on my men which they took well, if it hadn't been that I had saved everyone of them at least once I expect the circumstances would have been different. But we had a good chemistry the four of us. I remember all their names and faces, they shall never leave me. Sergeant Renner my second in command always shamelessly flirting with anyone with legs and breasts. Then there was Private Crossly a damn fine cook in my opinion and my partner. Last but not least there was Private Leo, the joker of the pack. We'd been through a lot together, become good friends. Little did I know that would be the last time I would see them.

* * *

Renner had spent most of the night flirting with us much to are annoyance. We took it jokingly since he was our friend but he was very persistent. He liked to push it to the limit, if he had known about our sexuality then it might have stopped him from pursuing us, but as he didn't know then he was a monster of our own making. But he was a good friend so we let him be. As Renner flirted shamelessly, Leo was entertaining a group of kids from the colony, joke after joke. They loved him for it though, whenever he had downtime he could be found entertaining children with his jokes and poor attempt at magic. Not only did the children love him for it, but so did their parents, giving them a much needed break. As they watched Leo with the children Renner lost his focus on his quarry and moved to some poor colonial woman. Naturally we felt sorry for the woman but it was a blessing for us. With no Renner about, Crossly and I soon found ourselves in the comfort of each other's arms. Now regulations stated that fraternisation amongst the ranks was frowned upon, but that didn't mean it didn't happen. As was the case with us. We had hidden it well from our friends and officers, but in moments like this we could lose themselves in each other. The moment didn't last; it wasn't long before our XO entered the building.

_"__Ah, Delta Squad. New intel has just come in. The archaeologists have just unearthed a Protheon device of some kind down at the dig site and we are being mobilised to go guard it. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie squads are already on their way in the Mako's. So I suggest you go gear up and set of, it's a long walk to the dig site. Sergeant Renner you're in charge. Dismissed."_

The Williams family curse struck again. Every officer knew who my Grandfather was and because of this I was routinely punished. Never expected to get past Gunnery Chief, as far as the alliance brass was concerned I had reached the highest rank available to someone like me. The rest of the team looked shocked at the officer's decision. They knew that I was more than capable of leading their squad, I had done it before successfully and they knew it. Every good soldier knows though that you don't question orders, if they tell you to jump you ask how high. If they tell you to kiss a Turian, you ask which cheek. It didn't take us long to get our gear sorted, just put the armour over your casual clothes and slink your rifle on your back. We met outside the armoury and Sergeant Renner sent us on our way.

The trail to the dig site was a long one. In the Mako it only felt like a couple of minutes, but by foot it was definitely an hour's walk. As we walked we talked about our commanding officer more than anything. Since he bypassed me for command he had fallen down in their books quite badly. They knew what I was like and just because my Grandfather surrendered to the Turians at Shanxi during the First Contact War didn't mean that I was a bad soldier. And they weren't afraid to tell me that. Their confidence in me was astonishing; no one had ever given me much praise like my squad did. It was at that moment when trouble came over the radio.

_"__Delta Squad this is Brave Squad do you read me, over."_

_"__Bravo Squad this is Delta Squad, we read you, over."_

_"__We've just reached the dig site. What's your ETA?"_

_"__ETA in ten."_

_"__Roger that Delta Squad, Brave Squad ou...Delta Squad we are under attack...reque...assistan...geth...hurry."_

_"__Bravo Squad repeat did you say geth?"_

Silence

_"__Delta Squad double time, prepare for trouble."_

With that we ran towards the dig site, rifles ready. The closer we got the sounds of gunfire became louder, as we ran down the slope towards the commotion we saw the geth attacking the unit. As we took cover we started to return fire. It was a slaughter, the geth just kept dropping from the sky and the more that fell the more men fell under their continued fire. Bravo Squad had been completely wiped out and Alpha and Charlie were down to their last rounds. It didn't take long for them to fall and leave Delta Squad on their own. Renner made the decision to fall back, it was a good call but at the wrong moment. As he and Leo got up to make a tactical retreat more geth dropped and opened fire on the two men. Their shields were ripped to shreds within seconds leaving just me and Crossly to fend for ourselves. Still behind cover I threw a grenade towards the massing Geth. As the explosion ripped the Geth apart we made our escape and headed away from the fight. As we ran from the fight more Geth dropped at the dig site, unfortunately these weren't fazed from the debris of their fallen comrades. With a quick scan of the surrounding area they spotted us. One shot was all that was needed as the Geth looked through the scopes of its rifle, it pulled the trigger.

_"__Crossly are you alright? Crossly? No Crossly, I need you. Stay with me."_

My moment of weakness had cost me dearly. The Geth were here. There were four of them all together. Two had hold of a colonist and the other two were heading in my direction. The two with the colonist had managed to drag him onto some kind of alter, but I didn't have time to look as I had two Geth approaching my position. Normally I'd have been able to take the Geth, but with the fire fight before my ammo was running precariously low. I moved out of cover and aimed for the flashlight heads of the Geth. It took four shots to the head in order to stop the Geth trooper, which left me with only four more bullets left for the three remaining. They could only be used on the one that was close to my position, so with practiced skill I moved out of cover and fired four shots into the closest Geth and with that I had run out of ammo. It was time to run again, as I moved away from the area I stumped my foot against a rock in the ground and that's where I ended up. Rolling over, I looked towards the remaining Geth with the colonist. The alter that he was being placed on suddenly started to move as a massive metal spike shot up through the colonist killing him instantly. A dragons tooth. As the ritual was complete the two Geth turned their attention towards me and advanced. Before they could even taken a step bullets and a biotic warp came at them. Both hitting the Geth and stopping them in their tracks. That was the first time I saw the Commander.

_"__You alive soldier?"_

_"__Aye Aye Sir. Thanks for the assist."_

_"__I'm Commander Shepard, this is Lieutenant Alenko. What's happening soldier?"_

_"__Gunnery Chief Williams. It's the Geth sir. They attacked the dig site."_

_"__The Geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in 200 years." _Spluttered the Lieutenant.

_"__Regardless Lieutenant, it's the Geth. They wiped out my entire unit, we were sent to guard the dig site. But before my squad could get there, the rest of the unit was attacked. We got here as soon as we could but it was too late. Shit, Crossly."_

I ran towards where I left Crossly and cradled her in my arms. Removing her helmet I placed a final kiss on her lips and closed her eyes.

_"__I take it you were close Chief?"_

_"__More than close, Commander. We had made plans to live together back on Earth. Even had a deposit down for a flat in Toronto."_

_"__Joker, we need a pickup team. A Private Crossly is down. Full military honours to be given."_

_"__Roger that Commander. Pickup team on the way."_

_"__Come with us Chief, we need someone who knows the lay of the land. But we can't wait for the pickup team. Our mission is too important."_

_"__That's okay Commander. The mission comes first. Thanks."_

It wasn't right and I didn't want to do it but I had to search Crossly's body for any spare ammo. Upon finding some the Commander then led us down towards the dig site, back towards the Geth.

_"__Any suggestions Chief."_

_"__The gap into the dig site isn't that wide. If we created a loud enough diversion to bring the Geth through it, then the Lieutenant could place a singularity in the gap. Then pick them of one by one."_

_"__Good thinking Chief, get to it Lieutenant."_

Alenko quickly got into position behind a large column away from the entrance and I took to the left of the entrance and crouched down behind a fallen column. The Commander was half way up the hill behind Alenko lying in the tall grass with her sniper rifle aimed towards the entrance.

_"__Chief, throw a grenade their way."_

The grenade struck the side of the entrance and bounced further into the dig site. After five seconds I pressed the detonator and waited for the Geth to arrive. It was the Commander who spotted them first and took the first down with a shot to its flash light head. As soon as the Lieutenant saw them he placed a singularity in their path. As the Lieutenant held the singularity in place, I opened fire on those trapped. It didn't take long for the Geth to be defeated. As the last one fell, the Lieutenant released his hold on the singularity.

_"__Good idea Chief."_

_"__Thanks Lt."_

At the dig site we found nothing, the Protheon artefact we were expecting had been moved. There was no clear indication about which they had headed with it, but there was only one way out of there towards the spaceport. The delay we had suffered would have given them plenty of time to be half way there.

_"__Chief where we heading?"_

_"__The starport sir, it's the only way of this rock."_

I led the way towards the spaceport, with a quick march up the hill towards the camp. As we reached the camp there were more dragons teeth lined up, all of which had already been raised. But as we got closer to them all three of them suddenly started to descend. On the end of each was a gray humanoid shaped creature, but with blue electronics throughout the body. As they hit the ground the creatures got to their feet and found their targets, with a quick dash they ended up directly in front of the Commander. A quick biotic push from the Lieutenant pushed them back towards the dragons teeth, but not before one of them exploded with some kind of electrical discharge knocking the Commanders shields down. A few bursts from my rifle put them down on the ground.

_"__What the hell were they?"_

_"__They looked like people."_

_"__With electronics?"_

_"__Quiet down Chief. Lieutenant go check those cabins."_

As they waited for the Lieutenant to check on the cabins, I found a nearby ammo dump to refill. What I had managed to get from Crossly wasn't enough. With more thermal clips tucked into my armour I was ready to carry on. It was at that moment when Lieutenant Alenko radioed in.

_"__Commander we have survivors. I'm bringing them out."_

The two survivors emerged out of the furthest cabin and headed towards the Commander.

_"__Do you recognise them Chief?"_

_"__I think that's Dr Warren. And if it is then that's Manuel her assistant."_

_"__Chief Williams, we heard the gun fight below, what happened?"_

_"__Geth, they took the artefact."_

_"__No they didn't, it was moved this morning. Taken to the starport."_

_"__Thank you Doctor, you'll be safe now." _Turning to the two marines _"Head out."_

We headed towards the starport and heard a gunshot come from ahead. As we moved into cover we surveyed the surrounding area. There was no one coming our way, the only things in front of us were more of those creatures. Three of them all coming towards them from different directions. A quick headshot from the Commanders rifle saw one of them hit the dirt. The Lieutenant used several biotic warps in order to bring down the second, and a round of rifle fire saw the final one fall. Ahead of us lay the starport and as we moved forward we found a body that wasn't Geth.

_"__Commander its Nihlus."_

_"__You know this Turian. There's movement behind the crates."_

_"__Come out."_

_"__The names Powell, I'm a dock worker here."_

_"__What were you doing behind the crates?"_

_"__I was on my break, when the Geth arrived and I stayed behind them. I thought my number was up when this Turian arrived. Even more so when the second one turned up and attacked the other one. Seemed like they knew each other, clearly not that well by the looks of things. Saren was the other Turians name."_

_"__Come on we've got to reach the starport."_

Before we could get to the transport that would take us to the starport we were ambushed by more Geth. Two Geth troopers were waiting for us just round the corner from Powell, unfortunately for us machines don't get surprised, they just opened fire and we just managed to get to cover. As we let the Geth waste their ammo we saw several more heading our way from the transport station including a Geth Juggernaught, our position would quickly become over run. With a decisive order from the Commander the Lieutenant threw a singularity towards the advancing Juggernaught slowing its approach. With a precision known only to those of N7 rank the Commander quickly dispatched the two Geth in front of us. I moved out of cover and headed down the ramp towards the waiting Geth, my rifle throwing bullets towards the stationary Juggernaught ripping it to shreds. A biotic warp flew past and struck the nearest Geth followed by a single sniper round which impacted an explosive canister decimating the remaining Geth. It didn't take long once we had reached the transport station to reach the starport. Once we arrived we were greeted by more Geth this time with nowhere to hide. So we stormed across the bridge to where there was some cover. What we weren't expecting was there to be several bombs placed around the port all guarded by Geth. We had to disarm the bombs and defeat the Geth. The Commander ordered the Lieutenant to disarm the bombs as we tackled the Geth. Before long we were ready to move on we still had to find the Protheon beacon. In hindsight it wasn't rather hard to find, it was rather big and was glowing green.

_"__Joker we've recovered the beacon, it's time for pick up."_

_"__Roger that commander ETA five minutes."_

The beacon was fascinating it seemed to captivate your gaze and you couldn't move away from it. I unwillingly moved closer towards just wanting to touch it, it seemed to probe my mind and every touch was heaven. I was only a couple of feet in front of it when something seemed to grab me and life me up. It felt like the hand of God reaching down and giving me his blessing.

_"__Chief!"_

Before I knew it the Commander had grabbed hold of me and thrown me to the ground, trading places with me. As I watched on in horror I saw here get thrown into the air and her body convulse in agony. After what seemed like hours as we gazed on helpless the beacon exploded throwing the Commander back towards us. With a click of her omni-tool I was able to look at her vitals everything seemed okay. Even though she was out cold. As the Normandy landed we picked up the Commander and took her straight to the med bay.

* * *

**Writing this chapter was rather difficult. I know from halfway in, it is the game but how do you put the game into words and do it justice. I hope from what you've read that I have done it some justice.**

**Once again any comments or views please let us know.**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Normandy

**The Normandy**

Allers: _You must have made an impression on the Commander there and then?_

Ashley: _Yeah I did. At the time I didn't know if she knew my family heritage though and she definitely learnt more about me that day than I did her. It was a bit frustrating. In the first few minutes of knowing her I had already told her something that even my own squad didn't know about me._

Allers: _You mean your sexual orientation, did Crossly get full military honours like the Commander said she would?_

Ashley: _She did. I was able to present them to her family the first time we made port at the citadel._

Allers: _Now Commander, tell the viewers about your first time on the Normandy._

Ashley: _The Normandy was and still is a fine ship. Not a single ship in the fleet could top it. The first time was a bit nerve racking. I'd never been on an alliance military ship before, well not as a part of the alliance anyway. I still remember when the airlock closed on us that first time._

* * *

As the door shuts for that first time there was no time for the sight seeing. We had to rush straight to the med bay with the Commander. We had to take the elevator up one level, by the goddess was that elevator slow. It would have been quicker to drill a hole through the ship. As reached the crew deck the Lieutenant led the way towards the med bay a quick left out of the elevator and straight through the door in front.

_"__Doc, we've got a situation."_

_"__Lieutenant, place her on the bed and wait outside."_

We turned to leave and were met outside by who could only be the man in charge. With a crisp salute we were stood at ease.

_"__Lieutenant mission report."_

_"__It was the Geth Captain. They were after the beacon. There was another Turian as well sir, he shot Nihlus point blank. A dock worker said his name was Saren"_

_"__Saren are you sure?"_

_"__Positive Captain."_

_"__Dismissed Lieutenant. A word Chief. You were on the ground before hand, give me your status report."_

_"__Sir, my unit the 212 engaged the enemy at the dig site but we were over run by Geth. It was a slaughter sir, I was the only one left. It's only thanks to the Commander and the Lieutenant that I'm still here."_

_"__I know your service record Chief. Who your Grandfather is."_

Shit. Another high ranking Alliance brass with a stick up his ass about my heritage. This was only going to go one way. Another speech about how I shouldn't be on his ship that I was only good for nothing important. How I should have gone down with my unit. I'd heard it all before and no doubt will do again.

_"__So I'm going to be honest with you Gunnery Chief. Every fibre in my bone is telling me to leave you on this rock, but I'm not going to. You have vital information which we need to deliver to the council and I have yet to receive a report from the Commander. Your fate Gunnery Chief lies in her hands. Dismissed."_

What the hell was that? The Captain admitted that he wanted me of his boat. But he wasn't going to act on it. He was going to wait till the Commander was awake. This was just all too much. I had to think things over, but first I had to get out of my armour and hand in my weapon to the armourer, which meant going back down that elevator. After another agonisingly slow elevator ride I found my self back in the cargo hold face to face with Lieutenant Alenko.

_"__What the hell is that man's problem?"_

_"__Who are you talking about Chief?"_

_"__The Captain, he's just another typical alliance brass. He doesn't know who I am, but because of who my grandfather was he just automatically assumes that I'm a bad person."_

_"__Your grandfather? That bad?"_

_"__Yeah, my grandfather was the only General to surrender to the Turians during the First Contact War."_

_"__Ah right. Well that doesn't mean your going to become your grandfather. The Captain will see that eventually."_

_"__Cheers Lieutenant that's what I needed to hear."_

_"__It's Kaiden Chief."_

_"__Ash, never liked Ashley."_

_"__Well Ash, welcome to the Normandy. You'll be needing the armoury follow me. I presume you'll want to see Crossly at some point."_

_"__Yeah if that's okay. I never really said goodbye."_

_"__That's fine Chief, we don't really have anywhere to hold her. But she's currently in the med bay. You'll have to ask Dr Chakwas to see her once she's finished seeing to the Commander."_

_"__Thanks Kaiden."_

Kaiden showed me the way to the armoury from the elevator and left me with the armoury officer. After he had inspected all of my equipment and armour and asked whether I needed any upgrades done to my weapons I was allowed to leave. I had nowhere to be at that moment in time so I decided to make my way back to the med bay. So one elevator ride later I was stood outside the doors to the med bay. A light above telling me not to disturb so I took a seat in the mess whilst I waited. Contemplating the position I had found myself in, I realised my entire career rested in the hands of someone I had only met several hours ago. But this was another officer in the Alliance Navy. No officer had ever done anything for me the past. Any promotion attempts were bypassed and given to people less deserving of it, did it make me a band person to want to further my career. No I don't think it did, but what I thought didn't matter to the brass. It seemed like I wasn't going to go anywhere. I held no hope that this Commander would be on my side once they knew who I was. Even the Lieutenant held some indifference to me, but he had been helpful and considerate so there was still hope for him yet, not yet corrupted by the higher ranked officers. Whilst I had been mellowing in myself defecation the light above the med bay had changed, it was safe to enter.

_"__Doc, how is she?"_

_"__She's fine, she'll be out cold for a couple more minutes."_

_"__That's good. Is Crossly up here?"_

_"__Private Emily Crossly is in the back."_

_"__Is it alright if I say my last goodbyes."_

_"__Of course, follow me. She's through here. Once you've seen her I'll need to give you a once over."_

With a nod of my head I agreed. At this moment I just needed to see Crossly

_"__I'll be outside when you're ready."_

It was just me and Crossly now. I'd lost friends before and I'd even lost lovers but never this way. We had everything planned it was going to be long until we left the Alliance and settled down. But that dream was over. It was at that moment that the flood gates opened. I wept like I'd never done before. How I managed to stay standing I have no idea but I did, it was hard to look at her she was just the empty shell of the woman she used to be. But it was still her regardless of how many times I told myself it wasn't. As much as I wanted to stay with Crossly I had to leave, there was no use just sitting there. Time for my physical.

_"__Doc I'm ready for my physical."_

_"__Good, just sit on the bed. Now your name."_

_"__Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams formerly of the 212."_

_"__Formerly of?"_

_"__Yeah, they were wiped out not that long ago."_

_"__I'm truly sorry Chief, we don't have anyone you can talk to on a professional basis on board, but if you ever need anything your more than welcome to come here._

_"__Thanks Doc."_

She had such a calming manor about her, it was easy to understand why she was a Doctor. If she had to amputate a leg she could probably make it sound like a sore cough. Easing the patient. It didn't take long for her to complete my physical, which she was very happy with. She was going through the results, but I honestly wasn't listening. I was too busy looking around the med bay, I had so many questions about everything but the only person who could tell me what I needed to know was currently out cold on the bed next to me. Looking down at her I could see why she was XO, even out of the uniform she looked every bit like a warrior and she was coming round.

_"__Doc I think she's coming around."_

_"__Commander, how are you feeling."_

_"__Like the morning after shore leave, what happened?"_

_"__The beacon sir it had some kind of hold on you. When it was finished it threw you away. We brought you back to the Normandy."_

_"__No local hospital?"_

_"__Under the circumstances Commander, I'm glad they didn't."_

_"__As am I."_

_"__Anderson I didn't see you there."_

_"__I need to talk the Commander in private, dismissed."_

Twice in several hours the Captain had dismissed me, at least this time he had a decent reason to. It still felt like he was looking down on me because of my heritage, but that could have just been me making stuff up.

_"__Ash."_

_"__Kaiden, what you doing?"_

_"__Waiting to see the Commander. How is she?"_

_"__Groggy to say the least and ungrateful."_

_"__How so?"_

_"__She asked why we didn't take her to a local hospital. She's already made up her mind about me, she must have known all along."_

_"__Not really, that's just the way the Commander is. Practical to the core. Don't count her out yet; she won't take who your grandfather is when it comes to your merit."_

_"__Okay thanks Kaiden. I won't."_

I left him at that point to go stand in a corner and gather my thoughts. Everything I'd seen about the Commander down on Eden Prime suggested that she was a good leader, she thought thinks through and did the best she could with what she had. But the few minutes we'd shared on the ship was completely different. She was a different person. Ungrateful for what we had done, but it was more than that, what she had said was directed at me personally. She knew.

_"__Chief."_

Ah shit. Standing right before me was the Commander. At least I wasn't talking to myself.

_"__Commander."_

_"__Are you alright?"_

_"__I'm fine Commander just figuring things out."_

_"__What happened down there wasn't your fault Chief. You're not to blame for what happened to your unit. Blame the Geth or blame Saren, but don't blame yourself. Hell blame me if it'll help for not being there sooner."_

_"__I don't blame you for what happened down there, it wasn't you that attacked my unit. You helped."_

_"__That's good Williams. Now to the bridge, Joker is bringing us into the Citadel."_

We made our way to the bridge, luckily this time it was a flight of stairs that took us there instead of that damn elevator. I'd only been on the ship for two hours and I was already starting to hate that lift. As we walked the Commander introduced me to two people who were having a conversation via the comm system. Navigator Pressly and Engineer Adams two of the best officers in the Alliance according to the Commander. As we moved on I was like a kid in a sweet shop gawking at all the goodies on show. I'd never been on the bridge of an Alliance ship before and it was all interesting. But there was no time to learn anything new now.

_"__Just bringing us into the Citadel now Commander."_

_"__Wow, look at the size of that thing."_

_"__The Destiny Ascension the crown ship of the citadel."_

_"__Size isn't everything." Joker muttered._

_"__Touchy Joker."_

_"__I'm just saying you need guns, speed and a damn good pilot."_

Over the radio we heard the alliance controller telling us to dock at docking bay 24 and to head straight to the Presidium, apparently Udina was waiting for us. The Commander decided that it would be for the best if me and the Lieutenant came with her and fully armoured. It didn't take us long to get suited up and as we reached the airlock Captain Anderson was waiting for us. Apparently he was coming as well. Great.

* * *

**Once again any comments or views are much appreciated. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4 - The Council and the Quarian

**The Citadel and the Quarian**

Allers: _So I take it then that you didn't immediately bond with either of your two superiors?_

Ashley: _No not really. At the time I thought Anderson was just another Alliance brass with a stick up his ass and Shepard well I didn't know what to think about her. She definitely wasn't easy to understand. _

Allers: _But you were at the Citadel now, surely it was going in your favour._

Ashley: _Well yeah it did seem to be, I'd never been to the Citadel before at that point and I definitely wasn't looking forward to seeing Udina. He was just another politician, they'd never done anything before so why should he this time._

Allers: _But if it wasn't for Udina you would never have met your team mates._

Ashley: _That is true; still he was a politician that turned nasty in the end. But to begin with he was just a pain in the ass._

* * *

_"__Anderson I see you've brought your entire ground crew."_

_"__Only Shepard's team, they were the main ground crew."_

_"__Shepard meet us at the council chambers."_

With those words Udina and the Captain left us alone. Another typical politician always scheming with the best of them. We now had to go to the council chambers, no doubt so that the council could tell us the exact same thing that Udina had. Another cab ride later and we were stood outside the council chambers. Walking up the stairs towards Anderson I spotted a Turian having an argument with another Turian. As we walked past I managed to pick up a bit of the conversation, something about not following orders, to stop gathering evidence about something that didn't exist and something else about a Turian Spectre.

_"__Commander, that Turian we just past."_

_"__What about him Chief?"_

_"__He was having an argument about a Turian Spectre, from the sounds of it he's been gathering evidence against him."_

_"__Did you catch his name?"_

_"__Garrus Vakarian."_

_"__We'll have to chase down that lead afterwards the council is waiting for us. Good work Chief."_

Anderson was waiting for us outside the chamber. The council and Udina were already under way, and next to them was a huge hologram of a Turian, who could only be Saren. It didn't take long for the council to decide not to help us as there was no proof of anything against him.

_"__We warned you against colonising in the Terminus system. Out of the reaches of the council what do you expect us to do." _The Turian Councillor accused.

At that the councillors departed the room and the hologram of Saren disappeared. Leaving us with Udina.

_"__We need proof to prove that Saren is guilty."_

_"__We came across a Turian before who was talking about looking for evidence against Saren, which could be a good place to start."_

_"__That's a good idea Commander; you'll need to talk to Harkin."_

_"__Harkin?"_

_"__Former C-Sec operative. He'll know where to find this Turian. You'll find Harkin in Chora's den. No doubt drinking himself into oblivion."_

_"__Okay, we'll start there Anderson."_

And like that our new objective was given. It was up to me, the Lieutenant and the Commander to find some new evidence. And our first port of call is Chora's den. It didn't take us long to reach the club, before we even managed to reach the door we were being shot at. Two Turians were waiting for us outside the club with assault rifles. As we took cover the Lieutenant threw a biotic grenade in the direction of our assailants. The grenade took down both of the Turians, leaving us to clean up the mess. As the Commander called in the attack to C-Sec, I searched the bodies for clues on who had attacked us. It couldn't have just been pure coincidence that as we arrived they were waiting for us. Only one of the Turians had an omni-tool on him, but even this didn't help the only message on it was badly damaged.

_"__C-Sec are on their way, lets go."_

As we walked into Chora's den you could easily see why men would love this place. Asari dancers everywhere even some human dancers. If you wanted company this was definitely the place to be. Harkin was going to be trouble to find. In a room full of men trying not to be spotted by official looking people it was going to be hard. The Commander led the way around the central bar with no luck. Even asking the patrons of this fine establishment wasn't helping they weren't going to betray their fellow patron. There were Turians, Humans, Salarians and even one Krogan all partaking in the debauchery of the club. Well apart from the Krogan, that one Krogan was looking directly at us.

_"__Uh, Commander. That Krogan in the corner hasn't stopped watching at us the entire time we've been here."_

_"__Good spot Chief. Let's go have a chat with our Krogan observer."_

I looked at the Lieutenant and the look he gave me back confirmed that we both weren't looking forward to having to deal with a Krogan if it came down to it.

_"__You've been watching us, why?"_

_Human, Alliance. The name's Wrex. I'm here on a job just making sure you're not the competition."_

_"__Only if you're after Harkin."_

_"__You mean the little fellow over there. He's not my quarry, he's all yours."_

Harkin was only a few tables away, it was time to go have a chat with him and of course he was expecting us.

_"__Commander, what took you so long?"_

_"__Harkin I presume."_

_"__Would you and you friend like to join me for a drink? I could do with the company."_

That pervert, drooling over us like we're pieces of meat. If it hadn't been for the Commander quickly replying I would have swung for him.

_"__No thanks Harkin. We need information. Mainly where can we find Garrus Vakarian?"_

_"__Him, you'll find him in the Wards at the medical centre with Dr Michel. But that's not what you really want to know. You want to hear about Anderson and Saren. Did you know he was a Spectre?"_

_"__Oh shut up Harkin. No one wants to hear you lies."_

So we were off to the medical centre. At least we didn't have to face the Krogan just a Turian. The medical centre was on the opposite side of the markets to the one we were on. Luckily we managed to grab a sky car there and miss all the traders trying to sell you all their rubbish. Traders they're almost as bad as politicians. We reached the medical centre without a hitch, it wasn't until we walked in that we were under fire again. Immediately we had to find cover, the distraction that we had caused meant that the Turian who had been hidden from view was able to shoot the man who had a gun to the doctor's head. At least the doctor had the good sense to hide when her captor fell, and allow us to save her ass. It didn't take long for us to finish the remaining men of and as soon as we did it was time to address a certain issue.

_"__What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have hit the hostage."_

_"__I wasn't thinking. Dr Michel are you okay?"_

_"__I'm fine thank you."_

_"__Who were those men doctor?"_

_"__They were Fist's thugs."_

_"__What did they want?"_

_"__Information on a Quarian that I was treating. She had information concerning Eden Prime and a Turian Spectre."_

First we're looking for a Turian who could help us and that Turian unknowingly leads us to a Human Doctor, who then lead us to find a Quarian. No doubt this Quarian would then lead us to something else, eventually ending up with us never finding out what we need. And undoubtedly more gun fights. It looked like we were heading after Fist.

_"__Chora's den."_

_"__What about it Vakarian?"_

_"__That's where you'll find Fist. He owns the joint."_

_"__So back where we came from then."_

_"__Seems like it Chief. Vakarian, we could use you. The Chief overheard your conversation with your superior earlier; you've been compiling evidence against Saren?"_

_"__I have been but I haven't got anything concrete yet. If what the Quarian has is any good, it should be able to back up my evidence."_

_"__Vakarian you come with us, Lieutenant you stay here and make sure the Doctor is safe. We'll radio you once we've seen Fist."_

We managed to take the same sky car back to Chora's Den. By the time we'd got there it was clear that Fist was expecting us. The first time we were there you could hear the music blaring out, but as the Commander parked the sky car there was only silence greeting us.

_"__Something's wrong, I have a feeling we're going to be walking into a trap. Be ready."_

As the doors opened we found ourselves greeted by a hail of bullets coming in from all directions. On the opposite side of the door two overturned tables granted us immediate cover. The Commander was first into cover and I followed her. Garrus on the other hand had taken cover by the side of the door and had his sniper rifle out and trained on the assailant on top of the bar. The fight was short but bloody. My shields were completely drained thanks to a Krogan who had come charging out of the back area. It was only thanks to Garrus that he didn't do any more damage. The Krogan's charge had knocked me to the ground and it was only Garrus' precise shooting that had stopped him from carrying on. From the sounds of gunfire on the opposite side of the room I could only presume that the Commander was still under fire. One more round from Garrus' rifle ended the fighting. Then he came across the radio.

_"__All enemies are down Commander."_

We all joined up again at the back entrance to the club. My armour had new Krogan shaped dent in the breast plate and it was rather noticeable.

_"__What happened to you Williams?"_

_"__Krogan."_

Was all I managed to say, my body still coming to grips with the impact of the Krogan and the floor. But that didn't matter I had to keep my mind focused on the goal ahead. As we pressed onwards further into Fists compound there was less resistance. Presumably some of them had heard the gun fire getting closer and decided to run. The Commander opened the next door and I stepped over the threshold and brought myself up against the wall, as I brought my head out of cover I saw a man stood behind a desk, who could only be Fist. Signalling to the Commander I told her what I could see. As she signalled her orders I could hear two machines start to work. A quick look round the corner showed me everything I needed; two automatic turrets had been brought forward and were searching for movement. I moved back to the Commander and told her about the turrets. This complicated matters.

_"__We've got a problem Commander; two automatic turrets have just come online. With Fist stood in the middle of them."_

_"__That's a problem. Garrus how are your tech abilities?"_

_"__Basic, but I can overload them."_

_"__Do it, we'll keep the turrets of you."_

I led the way back out to Fist's office. Upon reaching the same position as before I quickly ran to some more cover on the opposite side of the room. As I did this the Commander opened fire on one of the turrets making sure they didn't rip apart my shields again. Upon reaching safety I quickly caught my breath before leaning out and opening fire on the turrets. Whilst we kept the fire upon the turrets Garrus was using his omni-tool in order to overload the turrets. Slowly but surely the turrets were destroyed, both of them exploding and showering Fist in mechanical parts.

_"__Fist, you can come out now."_

_"__What do you want Commander?"_

_"__The Quarian."_

_"__I've already sent her on her way. She thinks she's meeting an agent of the Shadow Broker, when in fact she's meeting an agent of Saren."_

_"__Where's the meeting Fist?"_

_"__On the Wards, I'll send the exact position to your omni-tool."_

Such a nice guy, selling the Quarian out to Saren. But why would she want to pass the information on to the Shadow Broker. It didn't make any sense, everything that I had heard about the Quarian's was that they stayed with the fleet, yet here was one who hadn't. We had to get to the Quarian. Before we could leave the door flew open and in walked the Krogan from before.

_"__Do you have the information you wanted human?"_

_"__Wrex, this is your prey."_

_"__It is, answer the question human."_

_"__I have what I needed."_

_"__The Shadow Broker passes on his condolences Fist."_

The Krogan picked up his shotgun and levelled it at Fist, with one pull of the trigger Fist was splattered along the back wall.

_"__Was that entirely necessary?"_

_"__Was that necessary what you did? I saw the bodies littered in the club."_

_"__They fired at us."_

_"__Heh heh. How many times has this happened since you reached the citadel?"_

_"__This will be the third time by my reckoning."_

_"__Carnage follows you and so do I. I'm yours Shepard."_

_"__Welcome to the team then. Now we need to find that Quarian."_

And now we were four. A Krogan, a Turian and two Humans all after a Quarian. Sounds like the beginning to a bad joke. But here we were all heavily armed moving through the wards in search of a Quarian. Luckily the program that Fist had given the Commander was making audible beeps every time we got closer. The program led us to an alley behind the wards where we could see the Quarian talking to a Turian and two Salarians. It didn't take long for their conversation to fall apart. With a quick movement the Quarian had thrown a grenade in the Turians direction and turned away to take cover. As soon as everything went south we opened fire. Before Wrex could even get an edge in the Commander and Garrus had both taken out the two Salarians with simultaneous head shots and the Turian quickly fell to well timed rifle fire. Thankfully it was over quickly the only person who looked annoyed about this was Wrex, typical Krogan.

_"__Disappointing Shepard."_

_"__Yeah well, you'll get used to it Wrex. Now Miss..."_

_"__Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. Who are you?"_

_"__I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance. This is Gunnery Chief Williams, that's Wrex and that there is Garrus. We've been looking for you."_

_"__What! Why?"_

_"__We've come to the understanding that you have information that is vital to our mission."_

_"__Which is?"_

_"__We're looking for information that can discredit the Spectre Saren. He attacked one of our colonies in the Terminus System, Eden Prime."_

_"__I have the information that will help you."_

_"__Will you come with us?"_

_"__Lead on Commander."_

_"__Chief get in touch with Alenko. Tell him to meet us at Udina's office."_

It didn't take me long to bring Alenko up over the radio.

_"__LT we've found the Quarian. Do you remember that Krogan from earlier, well he's with us now as well."_

_"__You have been busy. We've had a bit of trouble here as well. A Salarian named Morlan has been trying to black mail the doctor, but I sorted it out. With no guns as well."_

_"__Very funny LT, meet us at Udina's office."_

* * *

**_Having just reread this chapter I found a rather obvious mistake. I didn't know you could brink Alenko up over the rainbow. Hopefully that will be the last mistake like that, but if my mind wanders it wanders. Hopefully I'll have more Wrex for you later, I like writing Wrex especially his speech. The Krogan such a wonderful race._**

**_Once again any comments or views let us know. Anything you'd like to see happen next let me know and I'll see what I can do._**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Council

**The Council**

Allers: _You'd only been on the Citadel for a couple of hours and you'd already been in four gun fights._

Ashley: _Yeah tell me about it, in fairness though we didn't instigate any of it._

Allers: _But in that short time you'd met three of your team mates: Garrus Vakarian, Urdnot Wrex and Tali'Zorah nar Rayya Vas Normandy._

Ashley: _That I had, but at that time I didn't know them not really. From what I'd seen so far Garrus was reckless. Wrex was a Krogan, I don't think I need to say anymore on that. And Tali, well Tali was pure innocence._

Allers: _What about the Commander and the Lieutenant?_

Ashley: _The Lieutenant and I got on well together. And the Commander I was warming up to._

Allers: _And at that moment in time you were off to see Udina again._

Ashley: _Yeah back into the serpent's lair._

* * *

Everything kicked off when we walked into Udina's office.

_"__Full on assault on Chora's den and skirmishes in the wards, what are you playing at Shepard?"_

_"__Securing the evidence that you need Councillor."_

Luckily before the Councillor could say anything else Anderson spoke up.

_"__Made some new friends Shepard?"_

_"__Making allies sir. This is Garrus Vakarian, a C-Sec officer who's been gathering evidence against Saren. The Krogan is Wrex, he volunteered. And this is Tali."_

_"__A Quarian Shepard? How low are you willing to go?" _Udina interrupted.

_"__My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya you bosh'tet. And I have evidence incriminating Saren against the attack on Eden Prime."_

_"__Miss Rayya. What do you have?"_

_"__It's Tali. I managed to salvage this from a Geth's memory core."_

**_"_****_The attack on Eden Prime was a success; we are one step closer to finding the conduit."_**

**_"_****_And one step closer to the return of the reapers."_**

_"__Who was that second voice?"_

_"__It doesn't matter she's with Saren, we need to bring this to the council."_

_"__Well done Commander. Meet us at the council chambers."_

We were dismissed yet again. The Commander led us out of Udina's office and down to the presidium. From there we would have to take an express elevator up to the council chambers and be there in a couple of minutes.

_"__Alenko, take Garrus and Wrex back to the Normandy. Ash, Tali you're with me."_

In the elevator up to the council chambers we listened to the news broadcast about the devastation of Eden Prime. Where the blame was being diverted onto the Geth. The news also said that there weren't that many survivors and the few there are were being taken off world and treated for any injuries sustained. Those survivors needed closure, needed to know that those who were responsible were caught. They weren't the only ones who needed closure. I needed closure as well. Hopefully this would be a step in the right direction.

As the elevator carried on I was curious. I'd never heard much about the Quarians and I was interested. But it would have to take a back burner, but one question was needed first.

_"__Tali, what will you do after you've given the council the evidence?"_

_"__If it's okay with the Commander, I'd like to stick around."_

_"__That's fine with me Tali."_

_"__Chief, I take it you don't mind if I stay."_

_"__It's Ash and no I don't."_

_"__Shall we go see the council?"_

The elevator had arrived at the council floor and we moved towards Anderson who was waiting for us.

_"__Shepard they're waiting for us."_

When we reached the council Udina was already showing them the evidence Tali had found. He stopped it just before the second voice and allowed the council to take it in, and waited. He then eventually played the second part of the recording; it was the Asari councillor, Tevos, that spoke first.

_"__Wait, I know that voice. That's Matriarch Benezia."_

_"__Who?"_

_"__She's one of the most respected and powerful Matriarch's in our culture. Commander you have proven the accusations against Saren to be true, he will be stripped of his Spectre rank and will never be allowed into council space."_

_"__That's it. He attacks our colony and all you do is strip him of his rank. That's not good enough, send in the fleet after him."_

_"__We cannot do that Commander, sending a fleet into the Terminus Systems will start a war. If my fellow councillors agree there is something we can do."_

Councillors Sparatus and Valern both silently agreed with Tavos.

_"__Commander Shepard step forward. It is the unanimous decision of the council to make you the first human spectre. In you new capacity you are the arm of the council, your decisions will reflect upon us. We may not be able to go after Saren, but you can. You'll now be able to purchase stock that is set aside for Spectres. Good luck Commander."_

_"__Commander this is a big step for humanity, we have so much to prepare. Meet us at the Normandy in two hours."_

Such a jackass, not even a congratulations.

_"__I'll say it if he won't. Congratulations Shepard."_

_"__Thanks Chief. To the Normandy." _

It was a silent journey back to the Normandy. The Commander lost deep in thought. Tali was messing about on her omni-tool. This just left me waiting for the elevator to reach the presidium again. The broadcast in the elevator was still talking about Eden Prime, the numbers of the dead were rising. Also pockets of Geth resistance were still being found on the surface. No mention of those creatures we had encountered, which was a good thing it would only freak the people out. At that moment my comm system came to life.

_"__Ash its Kaiden, how did it go?"_

_"__The council have revoked Saren's spectre status and they're not going to go after him."_

_"__Really that's it. That's not exactly what we were hoping to hear."_

_"__I've not finished LT, what they are going to do is send the Commander after him with her new authority."_

_"__What new authority?"_

_"__Spectre status. We're on our way back now. No doubt she'll tell you when we get back."_

The elevator arrived at its destination C-Sec. For some unknown reason the only way to the docking bay was via C-Sec, which meant using another elevator. It didn't take us long to reach the Normandy and there was still two hours until Anderson and Udina were due to arrive. As the decontamination procedure finished and the airlock door opened Pressly was waiting for us on the other side. He gave a crisp salute and handed the Commander a data pad.

_"__Chief take Tali down to the armoury and have her shotgun stored and tell Kaiden to get up here."_

_"__Yes ma'am."_

I'd only been on the Normandy for less than a day but I still knew my way around. I led Tali down to the cargo bay where the armoury was.

_"__We're just going to store you shotgun Tali. Can't have you walking around with a loaded weapon."_

_"__This is a nice weapon Tali, have you ever thought of upgrading?"_

_"__I've placed my own upgrade programs into its mainframe. I've upgraded its capacity for thermal clips and it now fires incendiary rounds."_

_"__Very nice, if you want I can place it on the gun rack at the back or I could place it in my locker so it's safe and only you and I can access it."_

_"__You'd keep it safe in your locker for me?"_

_"__Yeah of course I would. Now let's go find Alenko."_

It didn't take us long to find Alenko he was showing of his biotic skills to Garrus and Wrex at the back of the cargo hold. We just stood and watched for a while, it was impressive but at the end of the day it was pure showing of.

_"__Hey LT, the Commander wants you on the bridge."_

With a quick nod he left, leaving us on our own.

_"__So Chief, how long have you been serving under the Commander?"_

As soon as Garrus asked the question, Wrex and Tali both looked straight at me. Clearly they were both interested.

_"__All of about two days Garrus, why?"_

_"__So you're not like the Lieutenant then, you're in the same boat as us."_

_"__Yeah that's one way of looking at it."_

_"__You know why we're here, why are you?"_

_"__I suppose it's only fair. The Commander saved me from the Geth on Eden Prime just after my entire squad had been decimated by them. That's my story."_

_"__I'm sorry Chief, I had no idea."_

_"__It's okay, but please call me Ash."_

* * *

**_I think this is most likely the first major step away from canon. I know normaly Ash is a bit of xenophobe but I'm moving away from that. For this story she's not a xenophobe she's just doesn't trust in others. Saying anything more may spoil the rest. So carry on reading._**

**_As always any comments or views are more than welcome._**


	6. Chapter 6 - Parting of the Ways

**Parting of the Ways**

Allers: _I'd say from what you've mentioned that you saw Tali as a younger sister._

Ashley: _Yeah I did. Coming from a family like mine it wasn't hard, being brought up with three sisters. I just unconsciously saw Tali as a sister. All innocent out to see the galaxy for the first time._

Allers: _You were aware of the Quarians back then?_

Ashley: _Of course I was. It was just how I felt about Tali back then. I didn't see her as a Quarian, I saw her for the woman she was._

Allers: _But you didn't feel the same way about Garrus Vakarian or Urdnot Wrex._

Ashley: _No I didn't. I didn't really know Garrus and I'm still weary around Wrex, he is a Krogan after all._

Allers: _Good point. Now you were currently waiting for the then Captain Anderson and Councillor Udina._

Ashley: _Yeah after Wrex and Garrus had left, me and Tali started talking about anything. We learnt a lot about each other in those two hours. By the time they arrived it felt like we'd known each other for years._

* * *

_"__Williams meet me at the Captains Quarters."_

Was all that came over the intercom. It was like being called to the headmaster's office.

_"__You'd best go Ash, come find me afterwards. I'll be in engineering."_

_"__Yeah, I will do Tali."_

Being left alone in times like these isn't the best idea. Your mind always seems to take over and you over think things. On one side this could be the Commander finally realising you who I am and telling me to get off the ship, or who am I kidding there is no or. That was the only reason. That elevator ride was the longest I'd ever been on and it was only going up one floor. Serious design flaw. As it came to a halt I walked out and walked towards the Captains quarters, stood outside waiting was the Commander.

_"__Williams, we need to talk."_

_"__Ma'am."_

She led the way into the Captains quarters, if I'd have been paying attention I would have noticed the name on the door. But my mind was in turmoil and I was lost.

_"__We've been given our orders Chief. Anderson has stepped down as Captain of the Normandy and handed her over to me. We've also been given three different leads, Noveria, Feros and Therum. On Noveria Saren owns Binary Helix which has currently gone dark, no communications in or out. On Feros a company called Exogeni are under attack from the Geth. And on Therum we can find Matriarch Benezia's daughter, Liara T'Soni. If you had to choose where would you go first?"_

_"__Therum, it's the only logical starting place."_

_"__Why?"_

_"__Binary Helix going dark could be anything doesn't mean it's specifically Saren. Exogeni being attacked by the Geth is bad but unrelated. If we find the Matriarchs daughter then she might be able to give us an insight about her mother."_

_"__Good call Chief, the Captain did give me something else as well. Dossiers on everyone under my command and a verbal warning about one of them."_

This wasn't sounding good.

_"__Your dossier was the most interesting. It was the first one I read, especially after Anderson's warning. He told me to leave you on the Citadel because of who you are. I'll admit when I met you I didn't think about who you were there wasn't any time. Since then you've been a credit to your uniform. But Anderson's warning worried me, so I read up on you. Let's get this clear now. I don't care who your Grandfather is, you are not him. I've told the Captain exactly what I'm telling you. Your here because of what you've done not because of what your Grandfather did. Your merit is what counts not your heritage as long as you don't go surrendering yourself to Garrus you'll be fine."_

_"__Thanks Commander, I needed to hear that. Don't worry I'm not going to surrender myself to Garrus."_

_"__One more thing Chief, Private Crossly's funeral has been arranged for tomorrow. The Normandy will be staying docked. We leave the day after. Now tell Tali I'd like to see her. Dismissed."_

I walked out feeling much better than when I went in. The Commander actually defended me to her superior. Even after hearing everything from Anderson first, she stuck to her guns; if I was good enough for the Commander then I wasn't going anywhere. But I needed to find Tali, she must be the next dossier she read. True to her word Tali was in engineering, being taught through the engine by Adams.

_"__Sorry to interrupt Tali, but the Commander wants to see you in her quarters."_

_"__Her quarters?"_

_"__Yeah she'll explain when you get there. Come on I'll take you."_

The mask hid her emotions, but anyone could tell she was nervous about seeing the Commander on her own. She'd been quiet on the way up and I left her at Commanders quarters.

_"__I'll be in the mess if you want to talk afterwards."_

With a quick nod of her head she walked into the Commanders quarters and I turned and headed to the mess. Noticing Garrus and Wrex sat together I walked over and joined their group. From their conversation I quickly established they were talking about different battles they'd both been in. Wrex definitely won when it came to the bloodiest and most brutal.

_"__Ash, we're comparing battles we've been in care to join?"_

_"__I've not been in that many not compared to the ones you two have been rounding off. But I can tell you about my Grandfather he was a General in the First Contact War."_

_"__Never heard of it, couldn't have been that impressive. Garrus?"_

_"__Me neither Ash, was it bloody."_

_"__You must call it something different then Garrus. The First Contact War was when we first found ourselves in a galaxy full of life. We encountered this vile race that decided to destroy a group of people that didn't understand us. We had a name for them, we called them skull faces. Now we call them Turians."_

_"__HUH-HUH-HUH, that is brilliant. Garrus how could you not know this?"_

_"__We know it as the Relay 314 Incident. It didn't last very long. Who was your Grandfather in this?"_

_"__General Williams was the man who surrendered to the Turians on Shanxi. You had the high ground and could easily have wiped out every man and woman in the colony. So to save them he surrendered."_

_"__Yes and later your second fleet under the command of Admiral Kastanie liberated Shanxi from us. Shortly after that the Council stepped in and negotiated a peace between us. It only lasted three months. With a small amount of casualties._

_"__Six hundred and twenty three human lives were lost in those three months. Our first contact with an alien race and you attacked us."_

_"__You were reactivating the mass effect relay that led to the Rachni home world."_

_"__How were we supposed to know that? That was our first time out in the galaxy. So instead of approaching us and telling us this, your people opened fire."_

_"__We made mistakes. We paid for it with Turian lives and money. We're still paying for the vessels lost in that war."_

That was true, the Council had ordered the Turian Hierarchy to pay humanity for the loss of the alliance vessels during the war. As much as I don't like talking about my Grandfather this was fun, it was a verbal battle and neither side was willing to back down. However Wrex had different ideas.

_"__As fun as this is, there's no action. He surrendered. Any in depth stories of battles something that will interest me."_

_"__Not from me Wrex. My Grandfather was the only story I had."_

_"__I have several more for you Wrex and some you might enjoy."_

And they were off again. Telling each other more stories, with me just sat there listening. They were like a bunch of old woman. Reviling in the stories each trying to outdo each other at every corner and I was the child in the situation taking in every word. It came as a surprise when Tali silently sat next to me and interrupted the conversation.

_"__Sorry to interrupt, but the Commander wants to see you Wrex."_

_"__Hmmph it's about time."_

_"__What were you talking about?"_

_"__They were comparing war stories."_

_"__Yes and now that Wrex is gone so is the conversation. I'm going to go find the Lieutenant."_

Such a charmer because the conversation between him and Wrex was over, he decided to go find the company of another male instead of sitting here with two woman. His loss, since we'd both been in to see the Commander we both had a lot to talk about.

_"__How did it go in there Tali?"_

_"__It went okay, the Commander wanted to know about the fleet and the specifics of my pilgrimage. I couldn't tell her everything but she understood why. She also wanted to know where I thought we should go first out of the three mission parameters."_

_"__Same here, she also told me something that I really needed to hear. How she was going to go of my merit instead of my heritage to judge me."_

_"__I take it that's good."_

_"__It's very good. I told you about my Grandfather and because of this most of the alliance brass don't hold me in high regards. To be told that for once I'm not going to be judged because of this is a blessing. It's never happened before. Did you talk about anything else with the Commander?"_

_"__I did, she's given me permission to send anything back to the fleet if I think it will help us in any way. It's more than I expected from anyone. You don't see me as a suit rat like most of the council races and you haven't turned me away. You've actually welcomed me and thanked me for the help that I've given. Well apart from that bosh'tet Udina. Did the Commander have anything else to say to you?"_

_"__I told you about Crossly didn't I. The only thing I didn't tell you was how close we were. We had plans to settle down after our tour had finished. But she was killed on Eden Prime, it's her funeral tomorrow, would you mind coming with me. I'm going to need a friend."_

_"__I would be honoured to."_

The rest of the day just sailed by after a while of talking Tali wanted to get back to engineering. So she left me to myself and I went to the armoury to be where I would be welcome. I spent the day there sorting the weapons out making sure they were in pristine order. Other than that it was rather mundane.

The next day found me and Tali at the funeral of Crossly. Due to the nature of our relationship we were sat at the front next to her immediate family. They knew of our relationship and had welcomed it. They had been very friendly towards me and considered me family. They even understand about me bringing Tali, that she was there as a friend. Some people wouldn't have been as understanding. The service commemorated everything that Crossly had stood for, even the preacher seemed to know her on some level. As the Commander had promised full military honours were given towards her. It came to the end of the service and the preacher was asking for anyone to come forward and share memories about her. No one moved, no one had the courage. But I did. From the front it was a whole different ball game talking to all the people gathered.

_"__I'll share a memory; from the first time I met Crossly I knew she was special. We met on Arcturus Station during training and instantly became friends. We went through everything together training, assignments and downtime. We even managed to get deployed to the same places. There was never a time when we were apart. Even when she was in the hospital due to breaking her leg during training I was there. It didn't take long for our friendship to evolve into something else; before we knew it we had become romantically involved. A couple of years passed and we were still going strong, that was when we started to talk about settling down together, retiring from the Alliance and living on the Citadel. We'd actually put a deposit down for a flat. Unfortunately before we could do anything about it we had been deployed to Eden Prime. Our deployment was only due to last a couple of months. A few weeks into that deployment was when it went bad. You know about the attack on Eden Prime, not many survived that day. Even up till her last moments I was with her. She didn't die alone, she died fighting for what she believed for the protection of our colonists. I'm Ashley Williams, I'm proud to have served with her and I'm extremely lucky to say that I loved her."_

I needed to do that. Normally I was the type of person to hold everything inside and not let anything out. But this time it just felt right to open myself up to a room full of strangers but with one thing that connected us. Crossly. They understood the pain that I was going through, some more than the others. It didn't take me long to get back to my seat and as soon as I was sat down the preacher carried on with the service. No one else needed to come up, I'd pretty much summed Crossly up in one speech. When the service was over Crossly's parents came over and we talked about everything. They were even nice to Tali as well, being the only non-human at the funeral. I promised that I would keep in touch with them and that they would do the same. If I needed anything all I needed to do was ask and they would be there. Like a second family. But I had to leave and when I did Tali led me back to the Normandy. Upon reaching the Normandy we headed straight to the quarters that we shared. Once there I wept for all eternity and Tali let me. With my head leaning on Tali's shoulder it was all I could do to stop me from falling. After a while the tears stopped and we just sat there talking about Crossly. As we talked I managed to lose myself in the conversation so much I didn't realise that the Commander had come into the room.

_"__You okay Ash?"_

_"__I will be Commander. Thank you."_

_"__I know how important she was to you. You needed this more than you'd like to admit."_

_"__Your right Commander I did. I'm just glad Tali was there with me. I don't think I could have done it without her."_

_"__Yes you two have become fast friends. I'm glad she was there for you Ash. Now get some rest, it'll help. We're setting of first thing in the morning."_

_"__Thanks Commander."_

* * *

**_I have to admit this is my favourite chapter so far. From the banter with Garrus to Crossly's funeral. The way that Ashley manages to get Garrus at his own game and bring up the First Contact War without him knowing and Wrex loving every second of it. Also the funeral, I've never wrote anything like it before. It's quite sad but it was needed, everyone needs closure and it brought two friends together._**

**_As always comments and views are always welcome so are any suggestions as to what comes next._**


	7. Chapter 7 - The Matriarchs Daughter

**The Matriarchs Daughter**

Allers: _In that short time you had become close with Tali._

Ashley: _She was a much needed friend in a time of need. All be it we'd known each other for three days._

Allers: _Was it wise to bring her to Private Crossly's funeral?_

Ashley: _I couldn't face it alone and I needed a friend. She was the only person I wanted to have with me. Wise maybe not, but it was necessary. As we travelled to Therum she was always there when I needed someone to talk to._

Allers: _So the Commander took your advice?_

Ashley: _Maybe, she might have already decided to go before she asked everyone. But in my opinion it was the right call._

Allers: _But it didn't go the way you planned at all._

Ashley: _No, not really. The mission was an overall success. The objective was completed, but we kind of destroyed a Protheon ruin in the process._

Allers: _How did you manage that?_

Ashley: _Well..._

* * *

After a quick briefing from the Commander the Normandy left the Citadel and headed towards the relay and set a course for Therum. It would take us five days of travel in order to get there. Which gave us time to go over the mission briefs and any intel on the planet. The mission brief was simple. Find the Matriarchs daughter. We had been given the coordinates to a dig site that she was supposed to be working on, the only problem was there wasn't enough room to land anywhere near the dig site. The only viable way was to go in the Mako and then walk the rest of it. First we needed permission from the colony in order to land. Being a colony they weren't that fond of the Alliance, when told that we had council Spectre onboard they didn't believe us. After a while they permitted us to land near the city. They didn't however allow us in to the city of Nova Yekaterinburg, not until they saw the Spectre for themselves. This wasn't a problem for us since we had no intention of visiting the city itself, the dig site was in the opposite direction. But the Commander did it anyway, wanting to see if she could get any more information. For this she took Wrex and Garrus with her just to show that they weren't all Alliance.

Whilst they were out having a talk with the city, we were making sure that the Mako was ready for its first deployment. Tali checked the engine and the mechanics whilst Kaiden and I checked the inside. It was rather cramped to say the least, room enough for three people. One to drive, one to operate the weapons platform and another to manage the engineering platform. It looked big on the outside but on the inside it really wasn't. This would mean that every away mission only two people could go with the Commander. It wasn't going to be fun being told to stay on the ship. But at least the Mako was ready for deployment.

_"__You done Tali?"_

_"__The Mako is ready, nothing else to be done."_

_"__Good, let's get something to eat before the Commander returns. There's some dextro paste with your name on it."_

_"__Hmm, I can taste it from here. Let's go."_

We actually managed to get all the way to the mess before the Commanders voice came over the comm system ordering us back to the cargo hold. So close.

_"__Looks like we'll have to try again later."_

_"__Bosh'tet!"_

_"__You're going to have to tell me what that means someday."_

_"__Not any time soon."_

Back in the cargo hold the Commander was waiting for us so she could start the briefing.

_"__Took your time Williams."_

_"__Sorry, seriously though you need a new lift."_

_"__I'll keep that in mind. Now the leaders of Nova Yekaterinburg have given us some intel on the road ahead of us. It's going to get hot, the road passes through magma fields. The route there isn't easy, the terrain is terrible. The dig site that we're going to is situated in the middle of the biggest magma field on the planet, we can only take the Mako so far. The road narrows so much that you can only walk through one by one in certain places. Once we reach the dig site we're on our own, there's no intel on that area and the only person who knows the area is our quarry. What you may also be aware of is that I can only take two of you with me due to the size of the Mako. I'm going to be taking Williams and Tali on this mission. The rest of you will stay onboard the Normandy. Dismissed."_

We headed towards the Commander and the Mako with everyone wishing us luck. I could see that they wanted to go on the mission, but they also cared enough to want to see us back. As we climbed into the Mako the Commander took to the driver's seat and Tali took straight to the maintenance platform, leaving me to the weapons platform. When we set of I could immediately see and feel what the Commander said earlier about the terrain. It was terrible, although the Commanders driving wasn't the best either but then again I've never been in a Mako with anyone who could actually drive it. As we went down the trail towards the dig site a ship came over us and stopped in front. A big purple ship that looked like a big bug was hanging in the sky. Two drop pods hit the ground in front of us and two Geth Armatures appeared from the craters.

_"__Ash take those things out, I'll keep us moving. Tali keep an eye on our shields."_

I fired up the main gun and pelted the first armature with continuous fire. The ones that hit didn't do much, the others just missed due to the Commanders drastic driving. I decided to fire the second gun and hit it with a high impact shot. The first hit the Armature and depleted its shields in one go, whilst that recharged I fired the main gun at it and watched as it fell apart. With the first one down the Commanders driving improved as there wasn't as much to dodge. Aiming towards the second Armature I fired the high impact shot and managed a direct hit and depleted its shields. As I waited for it to recharge again the Armature had managed to get two direct hits.

_"__Commander, shields are down. It's going to take a couple of minutes for them to recharge."_

_"__Okay no more direct hits. Ash one more hit should take care of it."_

And it did. The commotion had given the gun a chance to recharge, one more direct hit later and the Armature joined its companion. We didn't wait for anything else to appear, the Commander carried on driving towards the dig site. Unfortunately there were more Geth Armatures waiting for us as we carried on, it seemed that for every corner we turned there were two Armatures waiting for us by the time we'd got through them all we'd hit a dead end, way before we were supposed to. A man made barricade was stopping us from carrying on. On top of the barricade were two rocket troopers who had been waiting for us. As soon as we rounded the corner they fired. We couldn't advance.

_"__Commander, there's a gap big enough for the Mako over there; from the map it looks like it should come out behind that wall."_

_"__Alright Tali, we can only try it."_

The gap was just big enough, we may have scratched the paint work and on the opposite side there was a turret waiting for us. Two quick shots from the main gun and it was taken care of. We emerged in the middle of Geth city, Geth troopers, Geth shock troopers and a Geth juggernaut were waiting for us. It was only due to the Commanders ridiculous driving that we managed to miss the bulk of the attack, and also how we managed to run half of them over. It fell down to me to remove the juggernaut from our path, with one shot of the second gun he was history. With just us left we headed towards the second gate which was locked.

_"__Ash see what you can do."_

The Commander reversed back so we were out of the blast radius. I fired the main gun and just let the bullets weaken the metal gate, when I felt it was ready for more force I fired a high impact shot. Followed by another continuous stream of bullets then accompanied by one more final high impact shot. This last shot did the trick the gate fell apart and we were able to carry on. But we didn't get fair as the natural end came in to sight. The road stopped but a path carried on in between two pieces of solid magma. The Commander stopped the Mako in front of the gap and we clambered out. Leaving the Mako behind the Commander led the way forward. Moving on we ended up in a small clearing with only one way to go. Before we could move any further, we took cover as a small Geth patrol had emerged from the opposite side.

_"__Tali can you overload their shields?"_

_"__Better than that Commander, I can change their friend or foe program."_

_"__Do it."_

We spent the next few minutes waiting in the cover provided whilst Tali hacked her way into the Geth. It didn't take long for the sounds of gun fire to be heard. It seemed that Tali was successful with her hack, one of the Geth had turned on its two companions. In the short skirmish that followed our Geth was destroyed leaving just one left. Before it could turn its sight on us we quickly defeated it. Not knowing what was round the corner waiting and now alerted to our position. Never the less we charged ahead taking whatever cover we could. What finally halted our progression was a sniper round being lodged into the boulder next to me.

_"__Tali can you hack that sniper?"_

_"__It's too far Ash, however that shock trooper. Give me a minute."_

A minute under gun fire was a long time. As we returned fire Tali worked on her hack. From our position weren't able to kill any of the Geth units before us. But because of the slight incline we were able to keep them from advancing.

_"__I've got it take that you bosh'tet."_

Tali had managed to overload not just the shields but the actual Geth unit itself and in doing so not only was the shock trooper destroyed but several of its comrades as well, including that pesky sniper. We were now able to move forward and take the fight to the Geth. It didn't take long for the remaining Geth to be neutralised and we were glad of the moment's respite. But that moment didn't last long. As we advanced towards the opening of the dig site more Geth dropped from orbit. But not any ordinary Geth, two Geth Stalkers and another Armature. We didn't even have the Mako for firepower. We didn't need orders to tell us to take cover or who to shoot for first. This had been the first time I'd ever come across Geth Stalkers, they were quick. Jumping from beam to beam and able to stick to any surface. Their attack was powerful as well; just one successful hit would decimate your shields and overheat your weapon. Add an Armature to your problems and that's one hell of a bad day. It took the combined might of all three of us to dispatch the two Stalkers finally getting them caught hanging from an over head walk way. That just left us with the Armature.

_"__Tali can you overload its shield."_

_"__I can, it'll take a minute or two."_

_"__Get to it. Ash once Tali's overloaded its shield throw two grenades at it. I'll cover you."_

_"__Got it."_

It took Tali longer than she expected in order to overload its shield, by the time she was ready most of the cover we had started with had been destroyed by the Armature's high impact shot. When Tali was ready she went straight for it, coming out of cover so she could see the target she sent the overload program to the Armature. The moment its shields dropped I launched the grenades at it. When they reached the base of the Geth I used the remote detonator. The grenades hadn't done enough damage it was still going strong.

_"__Chief give it two more."_

I primed two more grenades and waited for the opportune moment to throw them. I waited until the Commander and Tali were both firing at the Armature. As soon as I threw them I armed the grenades, with the metallic thud of grenades hitting the Armature I set them off. This time they had done their work. The Armature folded in on itself as it died, we waited several minutes to make sure it was the real deal. After several minutes the Commander decided it was safe for us to carry on. The entrance to the dig site was just behind the Armature up a ramp that led to the entrance.

It took several minutes for the door to open to the dig site, but once we were in it was like nothing we'd seen. The door was just the beginning to a long tube that angled down towards a metal walkway, before we could even get on to the walkway a Geth shock trooper came round the corner and opened fire. We didn't have any cover to get behind we could only press on, we returned fire on the Geth. The combined fire between us took the Geth down before we reached the bottom of the tunnel. As we moved further into the dig site we were accosted by more Geth including some drones. Thankfully we reached the elevator without any major problems, piling in we moved down into the lower reaches of the dig site.

_"__This things quicker than the one on the Normandy."_

_"__Are we really going to compare every elevator to the one on the Normandy?"_

_"__Yes, yes we are. That is until that elevator gets upgraded, it's goes between two floors Commander. There is no reason why it should be so slow. Do you agree Tali?"_

_"__It is rather slow Commander. If you're in desperate need of some delicious Turian dextro paste you could pass out before you get to the mess."_

_"__Okay okay, I get your point. Next chance we get we'll upgrade."_

The banter stopped just as the lift did. Stuck between two floors, debris had fallen underneath the elevator and stopped it in its tracks. The door opened and the Commander climbed down the debris to the next floor. Following suit we were quickly out of the elevator. To our right was a vast cavern and to our left was a force field. In the middle of the force field was an Asari that appeared to be trapped within a bubble made from the force field.

_"__Please help."_

_"__Dr T'Soni?"_

_"__Yes. I was trying to figure out what this control panel controlled and I accidently placed this force field. The only way to deactivate it is on this side."_

_"__We'll see what we can do."_

We left the doctor on her own. As stupid as it was to get herself stuck in a force field like that, it was currently the safest place at the moment. Moving off the platforms down towards what looked like a mining laser we were ambushed by more geth. Four all in total, two troopers, one shock trooper and a sniper. The troopers were easy to spot as they were up close and personal and it didn't take us long to dispatch them. The sniper was a bigger problem; it was constantly on the move. Never firing from the same spot more than once, making it harder for us to find it.

_"__Commander I have an idea. I'll need to borrow your sniper."_

_"__Go for it Williams."_

All I needed was quick reflexes and a diversion.

_"__Commander would you mind going for a walk?"_

_"__Sure, there's a nice piece of cover over there."_

As requested the Commander moved out of cover and headed across the room. And as predicted the Geth sniper took the bait. It took a shot at the Commander and I managed to find where it had been hiding, with a quick look through the scope I followed the route it had taken. As the scope caught up with it, it was already hiding again. But I would be ready this time. As the Commander made her way back, the Geth poked its head up and aimed her way. As I inhaled I brought the scope to rest on its head and fired neutralising the target.

_"__Good shot Williams, now let's find away to the Doctor."_

We searched the rest of the compound finding nothing but more Geth, heading back towards the Doctor the Commander stopped at the mining laser. Following her gaze I realised what she was thinking. The mining laser was pointed towards the lower parts of the chamber that the Doctor was stuck in. We couldn't risk activating it; it could bring the entire cavern down on us.

_"__Commander we can't do that. It would cause a seismic event and collapse the cavern."_

_"__We're going to have to risk it. It's the only way through and I'm not wasting any more time. Tali override the control panel and get it working. Williams keep an eye out for more Geth."_

As I kept an eye out Tali got to work on the laser. With her tech skills it didn't take her long to activate it. A quick burst was all that was needed to break through the supporting wall of the structure. As it held firm the Commander gave the order to run, we all made it through to the opposite side before it gave in and filled the gap. Inside the chamber was a lift that would take us up to the Doctor. As the Commander activated it we could hear the cavern that we were just in start to collapse. We had to be quick. As the elevator stopped the Commander dashed over to the console which was holding the Doctor and deactivated the force field.

_"__How did you do that? That console was written in Protheon, no one knows their language."_

_"__No time, we need to get out of here."_

They ran back towards the lift, once they were safely onboard I started the lift on its ascent. As we rose the sounds of the cavern collapsing started to get louder, it had finally caught up with us. When the lift reached its limit we were greeted by a Krogan in full battle armour and several Geth. As the Commander traded words with the Krogan, Tali and I took to the sides of the lift with the Doctor. It was clear from the Krogan's stance that he wasn't going to just let us leave. As he carried on talking the Commander switched to a private channel.

_"__Ash we are going to take out the Krogan. Tali see what you can do about the Geth. When the Krogan stops talking we move."_

All we had to do was wait for the Krogan to shut up. He was full of himself telling us what he was going to do to us. When he finally stopped the Commander stepped in.

_"__This is pointless."_

With a speed unknown to most the Commander managed to pull her pistol out and fired point blank at the Krogan. The bullets were deflected by his kinetic shields and he charged. As soon as the first bullet was fired, I quickly opened fire on the Krogan as well. With bullets racing across looking for their target Tali was bringing down the Geth on her own. A quick friend versus foe hack and one of the Geth started firing on the others. A couple of overloads and the Geth were defeated, just leaving the Krogan. As the Commander dived out of the way of the charging Krogan I sent out another barrage of bullets, draining his shields. With his shields gone he went berserk, bringing out his shotgun he started opening fire on the first thing he could see, which was me. As I was kept under constant fire it was Tali that acted. Quietly coming up behind the Krogan with her shotgun. She brought it point blank to his head and fired. Even with Krogan's natural plate armour he didn't stand a chance against it. He fell down dead. With the now silent chamber we all came out of cover. The Doctor had stayed by my side during the fight, keeping herself out of trouble. The Commander was still lying on the floor after being charged by the Krogan, as she got up she spoke what was on everyone's mind.

_"__How about we don't go after a Krogan again?"_

_"__That was just one; imagine having to fight an army of them."_

_"__I'd rather not. For the moment I'll stick to the Geth."_

With a loud crack the ceiling above us started to fall. The adrenaline of the fight had caused us to momentarily forget about the collapsing cavern. All that was left was for us to get out so we ran. As we ran the ceiling was falling around us, knocking down sections of the walkways we were traversing. It was terrifying, knowing that any second a piece of debris could fall down and strike you dead or even worse knock the walkway from underneath you. Ending with you falling to your death, not a good way to go. We managed to get to the entrance with only a few scratches, as we exited the dig site the whole thing collapsed in on itself. We'd only just made it.

_"__Commander can you hear me, Commander."_

_"__Joker."_

_"__It's good to hear your voice Commander. We lost radio contact, the Lieutenant was about to send a rescue party."_

_"__No need for that Joker, we need picking up ASAP. The dig site has just collapsed."_

_"__Roger that ETA five minutes."_

It didn't take five minutes for the Normandy to arrive, no doubt Joker showing of his flying skills again. As it touched down the cargo ramp was brought down, showing the rest of the team stood there waiting for us. Garrus and Wrex no doubt in a conversation about the possibilities of what happened to the dig site.

_"__I want everyone in the comm room for a debrief in thirty. Alenko tell Joker to set a course for Alliance space."_

With that we were dismissed. Tali and I headed towards the armoury in order to store our gear. As we moved away from the main group the Doctor followed us. As I shed my armour she just stood there and stared.

_"__What's up Doc?"_

_"__Was that supposed to be humorous?"_

_"__The classics never die Doc."_

_"__Please it's Liara. And I was just watching, I've never seen a human up close before."_

_"__You mustn't get out much."_

_"__No not really. I am surprised to see humans working with other species. Quarians, Krogan and even a Turian."_

_"__So was I at first but I don't think of it like that, well apart from the Krogan and the Turian."_

_"__But not the Quarian."_

_"__Hey, I have a name. It's Tali, so stop calling me the Quarian."_

_"__Sorry Tali. What do you mean apart from the Krogan and the Turian?"_

_"__Tali and I are friends, we've only known each other about a week, but it feels like we've known each other for years. Whereas Wrex and Garrus, well Wrex is a Krogan so how else are you supposed to feel around him apart from weary. And Garrus well he's a Turian, he's a good shot but at the end of it he's still a Turian. So call that one bad blood between the species. It's hard to give up."_

_"__Yes, I can imagine it is. What about the Asari?"_

_"__The Asari as a race always seem to be high and mighty, thinking they are better than everyone else."_

_"__You think that of me?"_

_"__No, I think that of your race. I have no idea about you, we've only just met. We've gotta go. It's coming up on thirty."_

We made our way to the comm room in silence. We were the last ones to arrive. Everyone else had clearly just gone straight there from the cargo bay. We took the three remaining seats and waited for the Commander to start of the debrief. She walked through the mission with occasional input from me and Tali. When it came to the Krogan we had met and fought I was surprised Wrex didn't jump from his seat in excitement. You could tell that he loved every detail of it.

_"__From the sounds of it, that was a Krogan battle master. Few people have survived when facing such an opponent. I'm surprised you managed it especially you little Tali."_

_"__She's tougher than you give her credit Wrex."_

_"__Heh heh, I'm sure she is Ash."_

Definitely a Krogan through and through, couldn't see the strength in others unless it was physically shown. As I was fuming with Wrex the Commander had carried on with the debrief, finally bringing up the Doctor. Doctor Liara T'Soni, the daughter of Matriarch Benezia and a so called Protheon expert. As she talked about herself she brought her own theories on the Protheon's to the front. It didn't take long for the Commander to interject and tell her about her ideas on the Protheon's that she had gathered from the beacon.

_"__You have touched a beacon and seen a glimpse of the past."_

_"__That beacon almost killed me, if it wasn't for the Lieutenant and the Chief I wouldn't have made it."_

_"__I'm sorry Commander but this is very interesting. Will you tell me exactly what happened?"_

_"__Later, I will. First we need information from you. Tali play the recording."_

Once again we heard the voice of Saren and Matriarch Benezia. Even though I'd heard the recording twice already, I didn't like hearing it for a third time. But for Liara, you could see how much she hated hearing her mother talk about it. Her mother was a powerful woman, she didn't see this coming.

_"__Where did you get this recording?"_

_"__I managed to recover it from a Geths memory bank before it exploded."_

_"__So it's real then, my mother is a traitor."_

_"__I'm sorry Liara."_

_"__Thanks Tali. What do you intend to do with me Commander?"_

_"__You're free to do what you wish Liara."_

_"__I'd like to stay and help if that's okay."_

_"__Of course, welcome aboard Liara. Have the Doc give you the once over. Crew dismissed."_

* * *

**_My longest chapter yet but then again so much happens on Therum it wasn't going to be a short chapter. I've definitely got a running theme with elevators going on so far. I mean come on why was that one on the SR1 so damn slow. It only traversed two floors. A bit humorous this chapter as well. I think it works. _**

**_As usual any comments or views please let me know and any suggestions feel free. _**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Diplomat & the Mercenary

**The Diplomat and the Mercenary**

Allers: _Surely there must have been another way?_

Ashley: _Not that we could see. It's not like we went out there with the sole purpose of destroying some Protheon ruins._

Allers: _Very true. What did you really think of Liara T'Soni when you first met her?_

Ashley: _When I first met her, I thought she was a bit of a wild card. She was the daughter of the enemy and when we met her, there were Geth and she was behind a force field. You couldn't get any more protected then that really._

Allers: _Really, you thought she could have been the enemy?_

Ashley: _Sure at first I did. But that feeling went as we tried to leave the dig site. And it completely dissipated when she found out about her mother._

Allers: _What came next?_

Ashley: _Nassana Dantius._

* * *

_"__Did you really do that Ash?"_

_ "__Sure it was fun Tali."_

_ "__How long did it last for?"_

_ "__Depends on who you ask Liara."_

_ "__What are you three talking about?"_

_ "__That's none of your business Garrus, we're on downtime."_

_ "__Not any more you're not the Commander wants to see us all in the cargo bay."_

_ "__Why is it whenever we're on downtime we're always needed to do something?"_

_ "__Because the world is cruel towards the feminine race."_

_ "__That's hilarious Garrus you should try stand up."_

_ "__Alas I sense I'm following the wrong path."_

A Turian with a sense of humour, even if it was a really bad one was just what we needed. Regardless of that we followed him to the comm room where the Commander was waiting for us. She looked troubled.

_"__Good everyone's here. Sorry to interrupt on your downtime you three. We've got a new mission. I've just been contacted by a Nassana Dantius an Asari diplomat situated on the Citadel. She's requested my presence on the Citadel in a matter of kidnapping. So that's where we're going. When we get there Alenko, Garrus you're with me. The rest of you are entitled to some shore leave. When we get to the Citadel you have one solar day of shore leave then we leave on this mission. Crew dismissed."_

As we all got up to go Garrus and the LT remained seated and got the full brief off the Commander for the meeting. At least the mission brief didn't take that long we still had some downtime left to enjoy.

_"__At least that didn't take too long. You going to finish your story now Ash?"_

_ "__I think you've had too much excitement for one day Tali. I'll leave it for another time. I'm going to get some sleep, you think on what you want to do tomorrow for your shore leave."_

_ "__Oh, shore leave. Come on Liara."_

Tali and Liara left me at our quarters. Since Liara had come onboard the Commander had ordered that another bunk be placed in our quarters to accommodate her. She didn't spend much time there, instead she could normally be found in her lab in the medical bay. Either working or asleep at her desk. I closed the door to our quarters and just fell onto the bed and caught up on my sleep.

I was woken up when the Normandy begun docking procedures on the Citadel by a very excited Tali. She wasn't just going to be a Quarian this time; she would be in the company of an Asari and a Human, able to do what she wanted. It was shore leave so there was no need for the dress down uniform of the Alliance. As the Normandy finished docking we were all assembled at the airlock as soon as the light turned green we all departed. We all took the lift down to the Presidium and went our separate ways. Leaving just Tali, Liara and myself.

_"__Okay then ladies where first?"_

_ "__I've heard there's a shop that caters to Quarians."_

_ "__That sounds wonderful Liara. Can we start there?"_

_ "__Lead the way."_

We spent the rest of our shore leave going round the different shops getting anything we could think of that would help us on our mission. We also spent our evening meal at some Sushi bar that had just had its grand opening a couple of weeks back. We had a good time eventually we had to make our way back to the Normandy our one solar day was up. Upon returning to the Normandy we found the Commander waiting for us at the docking bay.

_"__Meeting in comm room asap, that is once you've put all your new belongings away."_

She had it coming standing their smirking at our purchases. But regardless we followed her orders it didn't take us long to place everything in our quarters and get to the comm room.

_"__Everyone's here. Nassana Dantius has been contacted by a group of mercenaries who have kidnapped her sister. They've requested money which has been paid and she still hasn't heard from her sister. We are to go rescue her. She's been tracked to Sharjila in the Artemis Tau cluster, which Joker has already set a course for. We expect to be there in twelve hours, I'll be taking Garrus and Ash, on this one. Crew dismissed."_

Garrus and I both waited for the crew to be dismissed and receive further details that always came next.

_"__I don't think this is a simple kidnapping. Something doesn't sit right with Nassana Dantius, she played me. When we get there we need to be extra vigilant, this isn't going to be straight forward."_

_ "__What makes you say that Shepard?"_

_ "__It's just what she said Garrus, everything was placed perfectly to want me to say yes to her request. Either her sister really has been kidnapped. Highly unlikely or something else is in motion here."_

_ "__We'll be careful Commander."_

_ "__Dismissed Chief."_

Twelve hours later we found ourselves in the Mako plummeting towards Sharjila. Apart from landing the Normandy this was the quickest way to go and it definitely got your adrenaline going. Upon landing the Commander immediately sped the Mako off towards the coordinates given to us. It wasn't that far thankfully since the Commanders driving wasn't what you would call good. As we got into visual range of the coordinates a mercenary base was in front of us, with what looked like the entire facility armed and waiting for us. The Commander moved the Mako into cover and got out with her sniper. We followed her out of the Mako and took up positions either side of her. Garrus and the Commander both with their snipers pointing towards the mercenary base.

_"__Williams, I want you back in the Mako and start a run towards the base, we'll cover you from here. Just concentrate on evading fire and distracting them. Once your clear head into the base, Garrus will cover you from here and I'll make my way across."_

I nodded my agreement and got straight back into the Mako and set a course directly towards the base. It didn't take long for them to spot me and start opening fire, as I dodged most of the weapons fire including some rockets the Commander and Garrus started to pick of targets. One by one they fell to sniper rounds by the time I got close enough for the turrets to engage there wasn't anybody left. The Commander and Garrus having taken them all out. Pulling up to the entrance of the base I stopped the Mako and headed towards the door. As I moved to open the door I could feel Garrus' sights resting on my back, just watching in case of trouble. Before I even recognised the danger that was in front of me it was over. Garrus had been quick on the draw. The door had opened before I could get to it and behind it had stood a mercenary with a mean looking shotgun. The shot had made the Commander double time it to get to the base. She reached me as I stepped over the threshold and headed into the complex. Side by side we made our way through the complex removing any resistance we found. Once the ground floor was clear we made our way to the second floor where the office was. It took a couple of seconds for the omni-gel to crack the door code. Once the door was opened we raised our weapons and walked in, behind the desk was an Asari.

_"__That bitch, my sister sent you didn't she. She just couldn't leave me alone. Nassana Dantius' sister the leader of a mercenary outfit. Once I've dealt with you then she's next."_

_ "__You talk too much."_

Without hesitating the Commander fired one shot that hit the Asari in-between the eyes. As that blank look of death crept upon her she slowly fell to the ground.

_"__Check the body Williams; we need some proof to back up what she said."_

As I searched the Asari's body the Commander radioed Garrus and gave him a quick update. Searching the body proved pointless she had nothing on her, so I moved to the desk that she was stood behind. On it there was a data pad which detailed every job they had pulled and the current extortion ring they were pulling on Nassana. From the details provided there was no way that she thought her sister had been abducted. The messages were clear if she didn't pay then her sister was going to give away her secret.

_"__Commander you need to see this."_

_ "__What've you got Williams?"_

_ "__Details on every job this crew pulled including the extortion of Nassana Dantius. There's no way she thought that her sister had been abducted. She had paid though and it seemed her sister was content for the moment. Clearly Nassana wasn't."_

_ "__Good find Ash. Bring that back to Normandy__it's time to go see Nassana."_

It worried me that the Commander would just shoot this woman in cold blood. No warning not even a fair fight, she just fired. Bored from the conversation it seemed.

_"__Commander I have to ask. Why did you kill her in cold blood?"_

_ "__Simple Williams. It was going to be me or her, she'd seen and heard what we had done to everyone else, we had her cornered and she wasn't going to go down without a fight. So I saved us the trouble of a fight. In these close quarters one of us would have been injured. In situations like this you've got to judge the person in front of you, it sounds cold and calculated because it is. If we had delayed who knows what she could have done. Keep that in mind Williams."_

It made sense, it was a judgement call not like she wanted to kill her, just a judgement call. With the Commanders words I placed to the back of my mind and moved on. We met Garrus by the Mako and radioed into Joker that we were ready for pickup and to set a course for the Citadel as soon as we were on board. It was another twelve hour journey back to the Citadel which of course went by agonisingly slow since we wanted answers. In those twelve hours the Commander filled everyone in on the mission. People were angry, we had been manipulated into doing something that we might have agreed to if she had told us the truth. As a typical Krogan Wrex was telling everyone what he thought we should do to her, all of which ended up with her dead with her head on a spike...

...Twelve hours later and the Commander had asked the ground team to go with her as she went to confront Nassana. We found her in a bar by the embassies.

_"__Commander any news?"_

_ "__Yes, but we want answers. Why didn't you tell us the truth?"_

_ "__I did tell you the truth."_

_ "__So you just missed out the part about your sister not actually being abducted and her being the leader of a mercenary group."_

_ "__Ah, that truth. The reason Commander was because if I had told you the truth you wouldn't have done anything. My sister being a mercenary was none of your problem, but with your history I thought you might have been susceptible to a kidnapping."_

With the Commanders history, what the hell did that mean?

_"__And you were right. But because you lied to us, you put me and my team in danger. We did our job and that's it."_

_ "__That you did Commander. Here's your payment for a job well done."_

With the payment received we left Nassana to herself. As soon as we were back on the presidium the Commander gave Garrus the data pad with the evidence.

_"__Garrus take this to Executor Palin, tell him what you know. Make sure Nassana pays for what she has done. Then meet us back on the Normandy__"_

_ "__Straight away Shepard."_

Garrus left straight away to give the Executor the evidence, leaving just me and the Commander outside the embassies.

_"__I did the right thing didn't I Ash. Giving the evidence to C-Sec."_

_ "__You did the right thing Commander. C-Sec needed to know what Nessana had been up to even if it was unknowingly. Her money helped fund raids across the galaxy, even though the mercenary group is now gone, she needs to be dealt with. Hopefully the Executor will see that."_

_ "__Thanks Ash. We'd best head back."_

_ "__Lead on Commander."_

It didn't take us long to get back to the Normandy when we arrived Garrus was waiting for us by the airlock.

_"__Commander the Executor wishes to speak to you and Ash, he's in the comm room."_

With a nod of her head she led the way towards the comm room. Just as Garrus said the Executor was waiting for us.

_"__Commander, Gunnery Chief."_

_ "__Executor, you wanted to speak to us."_

_ "__I did Commander. The evidence you had Garrus bring to me, we're not going to be prosecuting."_

_ "__What? Why?"_

_ "__Orders from Councillor Tevos. The evidence has been given to the Councillor for her to do what she sees fit with it."_

_ "__That's it. The fact that she had been paying a known mercenary group and funding their criminal activities across the galaxy is going to go unchecked. More bureaucratic bull. Did she tell you why?"_

_ "__The Councillor didn't see fit to tell me why, which is her prerogative and I didn't want to jeopardise my career by asking questions. But you are right Commander it shouldn't go unchecked, if it hadn't been for the Councillor intervening she would have been prosecuted. Clearly Nassana Dantius is in a position of power back on Illium. Good day Commander."_

With that the Executor left and Nassana Dantius was a free woman, no longer going to be prosecuted for the crimes that she had committed. If she had sway of the Asari Councillor then she must have a lot of power back on Illium. It still wasn't right.

_"__Commander, we can't let this happen."_

_ "__What do you want me to do Ash. If the Asari Councillor has personally gone and cleared her, then its high above my pay check."_

_ "__But you're a Spectre. Who would argue with what you'd say?"_

_ "__The Council would, to them I am there pawn so if the Councillor has stopped the prosecution then what exactly am I supposed to do."_

* * *

**_It's been a while, or maybe not, not too sure really. But I've struggled with this chapter. Trying to remember the exact locations of the mission and the details of what happened, without resorting to playing Mass Effect, but here we are a new chapter mostly canon but hey who's story is it anyway._**

**_As always comments and views are more than welcome, and any suggestions in what you want to read next are welcome. Whilst you read, I'll write. And who knows I might have another chapter for you soon._**


	9. Chapter 9 - Feros

**Feros**

Allers: _The Council actually did that?_

Ashley: _It wasn't the council not really. It was Councillor Tevos. It took us two years to find out why she did it._

Allers: _It took you two years to find out why. That must have been annoying._

Ashley: _It was. I didn't like having that held over me as the one thing that we had never managed to figure out._

Allers: _So I take it you'll be coming back to this later on._

Ashley: _That I will be doing._

Allers: _Where did the Commander take you next then?_

Ashley: _She took us to Feros._

Allers: _Isn't Feros the planet that had the Exogeni plant meltdown?_

Ashley: _It had Exogeni that's for sure, but there was no plant meltdown. It was the Geth and the Thorian..._

* * *

It took the Commander several days in order to get over the whole Nassana Dantius predicament; it had a bigger affect on her than she expected. When she finally came round she came told us of our next plan. She gathered us up in the comm room again and briefed us on the upcoming mission.

_"__Feros is our next destination. We've had reports of Geth taking over the facility and the colony has gone dark. We need to find out what Saren was looking for."_

_ "__Do we not have any clues to that Shepard?"_

_ "__At this moment we don't have anything Garrus. We've just got top hope that the colonists of Zhu's Hope can give us some intel. Are ETA is six hours, we're going to be docking at Zhu's Hope and on foot from there. We'll all disembark at Zhu's Hope and give the colonists a hand. Dismissed."_

That was definitely a change we'd all get to go this time. Due to not having a Mako it made sense, safety in numbers on an unknown world. We all went our separate ways with most of us ending up in the mess. Well except for Garrus and Wrex who naturally had gone down to the armoury to check on their weapons and get some last minute target practice. Leaving just Tali, Liara, the LT and me to ourselves. We took a table to ourselves and sat down talking about anything. Liara was discussing the Protheon's with the Lieutenant and Tali was talking about the Migrant Fleet. Eventually the conversation's all turned in to one big discussion about the four of us. Alenko opened up about finding out he was a biotic and Brain Camp as he called it. Whereas I opened up about my family. When it came to the evening meal we were joined by the Commander. Who explained about what Nassana Dantius meant when it came to her past.

_"__I grew up on Mindoir with my parents. When I was sixteen the colony was attacked by Batarian slavers. My parents and friends were murdered and I was taken as a slave. It wasn't until weeks later that I was rescued by an Alliance Patrol. The men and women that took me in were the ones that made me want to join the Alliance. And I'm thankful that they did. I still keep in contact with several of them, they were my friends. And they were there when I gained N7."_

_ "__I'm truly sorry Commander I had no idea."_

_ "__That's alright Liara. Several years later I returned to Mindoir, they had started to rebuild but it wasn't the same. I knew after that day I was never going to return, the attachment that I once had was gone. That Alliance was my home from there on."_

I could never have imagined what it must have felt like to have been through so much. How she had survived the emotional pain was unbelievable. But here she was as strong as ever, taking on a new fight. That was all we would learn about the Commander that night, after she said her piece she walked off to her quarters. After considering what the Commander had said I too called it a night and went to get a couple of hours sleep before we arrived on Feros...

...four hours later the Commanders voice was coming across the intercom.

_"__ETA in ten minutes all ground teams report to the cargo bay."_

It took me five minutes to get out of bed and into my uniform and another five minutes to get to the armoury and armour up. By the time the ten minutes were up I was stood next to Tali by the Mako. Ready to disembark. We were all ready to go, just waiting on the Commander to be given the green light and open the doors. When the confirmation came through the Commander opened the doors we were greeted by a colonist.

_"__Fai Dan said you were coming."_

_ "__Who is Fai Dan?"_

_ "__He's the leader of the colony, he can be foun..."_

Where he could be found we never found out as a Geth trooper gunned him down in mid sentence. We fanned out onto the walk way and took cover as the Geth opened fire. From what I could see there were only six Geth, but they were a mix of normal troopers, shock troopers and snipers. This had us pinned down for a while. It wasn't until Wrex charged towards the Geth that we could finally return fire. Wrex's charge took down the Geth troopers and his shotgun blast destroyed the shock troopers. What I wasn't expecting were his biotics, he used a biotic throw to remove one of the snipers from the battlefield and used a biotic warp in order to dispatch the last sniper. One Krogan took down six Geth without getting a scratch. Someone was pleased with himself.

_"__Come on Shepard there's more Geth up ahead. Huh-Huh"_

And he charged forward again up a flight of stairs. After we'd lost sight of him we moved forward and followed in his tracks. It wasn't until we reached the top of the stairs that we saw he had defeated two geth stalkers as well. We came round a corner to find he was pinned down by fire coming from the colony and several people behind metal cover.

_"__This is Commander Shepard of the Alliance, stand down."_

_ "__Stand down, let the Commander through. Fai Dan will want to see her."_

_ "__Where is Fai Dan?"_

_ "__He's on the opposite side of the camp."_

It didn't look like a camp not really. It was just a colonisation ship broken down to make different shelters. Every part had been reused in order to create something that was essential in the continued survival of the colony. It was still weird. Everything else had been built around them, Exogeni definitely didn't arrive till much later. So why had they kept everything like it was and not upgraded. It didn't make sense. Luckily it wasn't a big colony so it didn't take us long to reach Fai Dan.

_"__Fai Dan?"_

_ "__You must be Commander Shepard, are you here to assist?"_

_ "__We'll give whatever we can. We've got Geth in the tower get rid of them and we can talk."_

_ "__You heard the man, move move move."_

As we moved forward into the tower we were quickly ambushed by descending Geth. Luckily we had a battle crazy Krogan on our side. Once again he charged forwards and decimated the approaching enemy. We didn't even have chance to engage. Moving up the tower we reached the skyway where the Geth were gathering on mass. Including two Geth Juggernauts.

_"__Wrex, you take the Juggernauts. We'll keep everything else of you."_

_ "__Shepard. You know how to treat a Krogan."_

As we got into cover and opened fire on the Geth, Wrex jumped forward and tackled a Juggernaut to the floor. Bits and pieces of the Geth were flying everywhere from the Krogan's direction. The Geth weren't giving in confident in their numbers. As the Commander and I opened fire with out rifles, Liara and Alenko were throwing their biotics around opening up singularities in front of moving Geth. Tali was using her tech skills in order to bring the shields down on the shock troopers and overload any of the turrets that were flying about. Whereas Garrus had taken up a spot further back using his sniper to take out any of the Geth that were still approaching. It was slow work but we eventually ended the Geth approach. A few scratches here and there but we were relatively unscathed. Even Wrex was unharmed after taking on two Geth Juggernauts singlehandedly. After checking over the Geth remains we headed back to the colony.

_"__The Geth shouldn't bother you anymore Fai Dan. Now tell me what's going on."_

_ "__The Geth arrived several days ago Commander, we've been trying to get through to the Alliance ever since. Half the colony is now gone because you took so long getting here."_

_ "__We had other priorities as well Fai Dan. What's the situation at Exogeni?"_

_ "__I don't know Commander, we've lost contact with them as far as we know there's no one left."_

_ "__How do we get there?"_

_ "__The only way is the skyway, there's a Mako parked at the entrance. Take that and just follow the road."_

_ "__Okay, Wrex, Williams you're with me. Everybody else stay here and protect the colony from further attacks."_

The Commander added the conversation with Fai Dan and set of back up the tower to the skyway, with me and Wrex in tow. The Mako was only an elevator ride up after going as far as we could by the stairs. When the elevator opened up at the top level we were immediately under fire. In front of us there were three barricades each with two people behind aiming at three Geth drones in front of them. We moved into cover quickly and brought them down. With the path now clear we climbed into the Mako. This time Wrex took the weapons platform and I was left with the diagnostic panels. When the garage door opened the Commander set of and we headed up the skyway. Rubble and smouldering vehicles littered the path towards the Exogeni facility. Spread out amongst the rubble were Geth Armatures and Juggernauts. Wrex opened up the main gun and hit them with everything we had, whilst the Commander made the Mako dance. As the Mako was hit by fire from the Armature our shields went down.

_"__Commander, we've lost shields. Keep us away from that Armature."_

_ "__Yes ma'am."_

I did everything I could to reactivate the shields, but my tech skills were very basic. After trying to bypass different routes the shields were up to fifty percent. Giving us enough time to get back into the action.

_"__Commander shields at fifty percent, be careful."_

_ "__I know exactly where I'm going to place it."_

With a quick roar the Mako turned towards the Armature and headed straight for it. The Commander managed to lock the Mako directly underneath the Armature. The Armature not being able to do anything about us as it just stood there. That was until the Commander activated the thrusters on the Mako, launching us and the Armature up into the air. As we came down we landed easily, the Armature was turned upside down and landed on its back. As soon as Wrex saw the incapacitated Armature he opened fire with the main gun and ended its existence. With the road clear we carried on and headed into the next building. As we entered the next building we picked up comm chatter.

_"__There's a vehicle coming, it doesn't sound like the Geth..."_

_ "__Get off that radio."_

As we carried on we stopped outside what was a weigh station for the Mako's. All the diagnostics programs that we ran against the transmission suggested that whoever had transmitted was in the weigh station. We all got out of the Mako and headed down the path into the weigh station. When we reached the bottom of the path there were several barricades in place with humans guarding the entrance. A man in the middle of the clearing spotted us.

_"__You! Who are you?"_

_ "__Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy."_

_ "__You have no business here Commander. Go any further and you'll be trespassing on private property."_

_ "__I don't care about your property I'm here to get rid of the Geth and find out why they're here. So you can either let me through or you can watch everybody die."_

_ "__Fine, but if you touch anything or see anything you're not supposed to then your career will be over, and Exogeni will bill you."_

_ "__I don't take well to threats."_

_ "__It's not Ethans fault. He's the highest ranking member of Exogeni left, he was only a low down manager before. If you're going in will you look out for my daughter."_

_ "__Your daughter?"_

_ "__Yes my daughter works for Exogeni, I lost contact with her. Can you look out for her?"_

_ "__I'll do my best."_

_ "__Her name is Lizbeth Baynham, thank you Commander."_

As we headed back towards the entrance we were beckoned over by a man behind a desk.

_"__Commander, I wonder if you might help me."_

_ "__I'm listening."_

_ "__We were so quick to evacuate that I didn't have time to download my research, will you be able to download it for me and bring it back."_

_ "__Where will we find it?"_

_ "__Any work station will do, Exogeni shared everything over one network."_

_ "__I'll see what I can do."_

Hopefully this time we'll be able to get out before someone else asked us to do something. We made it back to the Mako and carried on our way to the next skyway. Of course the Geth were waiting for us as well. This time the Commander left the destroying up to Wrex. Who gladly took up the chance to destroy more Geth. Which he did enjoying every second of it. When we reached the end of the skyway we went on foot and headed through the final door and find two geth stalkers waiting for us on the opposite side. As they leaped from surface to surface our shots weren't hitting their target. Wrex threw a biotic warp into the path of the first stalker which decimated its shield and health, leaving its partner, which fell to a well timed shot from the Commanders shotgun. As we moved forward we came to a sharp drop with no way back up. This was the only way forward, a force field blocked one exit and locked doors blocked others. I made the decision for the Commander and jumped down leading the way forward. As we came out of the corridor a lone shot hit the wall where I had just been standing.

_"__Sorry, so sorry. I thought you were Geth."_

_ "__Well I'm not so watch your shooting."_

_ "__Leave it be Chief. Are you Lizbeth Baynham?"_

_ "__How did you know?"_

_ "__Your mother asked us to find."_

_ "__My mother's okay."_

_ "__Your mother's fine she's near the colony with survivors from Exogeni. Do you know why the Geth are here?"_

_ "__Probably for the Thorian."_

_ "__Thorian?"_

_ "__It's a plant and that's all I know. I'm just a low level researcher I'm not even supposed to know that."_

_ "__That's okay, you stay safe. We need to carry on through the compound and get rid of the Geth."_

_ "__Here take this, it's my key card it should get you into different areas."_

Before the Commander could reply, we were attacked by varren. The dog like creatures that were sought out as pets by Krogan could kill a man with its sharp teeth and tended to hunt in packs. For ten of them to attack at once, it must have been a big pack that was in the area. Thankfully they were no match for three heavily armed individuals. Soon their bodies lay stricken on the ground, making sure that Lizbeth was safe we made our way to the door opposite and worked our way through the compound. As we reached the outside wall of the compound we came across part of the Geth ship that had installed itself in the side of the building. Weirdly there were two Geth troopers kneeling on the ground in front of it, almost like they were praying. But these were machines why would they prey. They were so caught up with their worship that they didn't realise we were there until it was to later. A shot to their head ended their existence. We pushed further into the complex only finding minimal resistance. We eventually came across the opposite side of the force field. In front of it there were three geth. One stalker, one trooper and one shock trooper, one target each. It fell to me to get rid of the trooper. Hidden behind cover I edged to the side and peered out levelling my rifle towards the trooper. With three shots it hit the ground and joined its comrades. Since we couldn't get through the force field there were only two options. There was a stair case to the right that headed up and one to the left that headed down. The Commander chose the right stair case.

When we reached the top of the stairs the Commander had Wrex go first. He turned the corner and immediately charged at the enemies in front. As we turned round we saw three Krogan firing at Wrex. But Wrex wasn't having any of it, he used his shotgun on the first and used a biotic throw in order to crash the other two together. As we concentrated our fire on the two that were dazed, Wrex concentrated on the one left standing. His shotgun still firing we lashed out with his biotics at the same time, biotic warps hitting their intended target knocking the Krogan further backwards. By now the other two Krogan had got back onto their feet and concentrated their fire on us. Luckily we were behind cover, able to hide from their fire but also able to return fire when needed. Our fire from before had fried their shields so they were no working on just their health. As soon as we thought we had them, they had a last second of energy and charged towards us. As quick as we could we both dropped our rifles and quickly grabbed our shotguns and just blasted the two Krogan. Whilst that was happening Wrex had managed to subdue his target leaving his corpse floating around due to the singularity placed by him.

_"__Anything down there Wrex?"_

_ "__Just a data terminal."_

_ "__See if you can find that missing research data."_

_ "__It's here Shepard, downloading to my omni-tool now."_

_ "__As soon as it's done let's move."_

It didn't take long for it to download and we were soon moving again. Back down the stairs to take the other route to the left of the force field. This led us down into the complex and opened up to another chamber where part of the Geth ship was latched onto the building.

_"__Commander if we could shut those blast doors, then it should break the mooring line."_

_ "__Good catch Williams; it'll have to be shut with force though. Let's see what we can find."_

We moved to the other side of the latch and encountered more Geth and there was no cover for us to hide behind, leaving us open to attack. And they had two Juggernauts. These odds would have been great if we were three Krogan but with us only numbering one Krogan and two Humans they didn't look as good. Well not to us anyway, for Wrex they clearly looked glorious as he charged into battle once again. We laid down covering fire for the Krogan managing to only take a few shots ourselves. We left him to the Juggernauts and we tried to take everything else, using what little cover we could find. Changing from our assault rifles to shotguns we decided to push forward into the Geth line. Taking down everything we could whilst Wrex was battling with the Juggernauts. Before we knew it the Geth line had dwindled leaving only a couple left, including one Juggernaut. As we finished the remaining troopers Wrex handled the Juggernaut. Ripping of different appendages until it was just a torso.

_"__Shepard, anymore?"_

_ "__I think that's all of them. Make sure there are none coming up behind us. Ash check those consoles."_

The consoles the Commander directed me to were right up against the far wall. One main hub and then several data modules to the side. Looking at the main hub, it had several different sub routines. It seemed to control a lot of different functions within the Exogeni building, one of which was the blast doors to the room. From reading through the information provided the only way to shut the doors with as much force as possible would be to overload the power. Which is what the data hubs to the side controlled, each one had a different amount of power running through as it they powered the different systems. Looking through the display another time I found the routine that controlled the flow of power. After several seconds of scanning the information I found which ones I needed to control.

_"__Commander. I know how to dislodge the ship."_

_ "__Do it Williams."_

I fired up the main hub and started the flow of power. After activating the three data hubs needed there was a loud crash as the blast doors cut through the latch attaching the ship to the building. As the ship could be heard hitting the sides of the cliff face our radios suddenly came to life.

_"__Commander do you read me? Commander."_

_ "__Joker."_

_ "__Good to hear your voice Commander. We've got a problem."_

_ "__Hit me Joker."_

_ "__The colonists have started attacking the ship. One minute they were fine and the next they just went crazy."_

_ "__Activate the kinetic barriers so they don't do any damage. We're on our way back."_

_ "__Roger that Commander."_

_ "__Let's move out."_

We headed back the way we came, with the ship no gone the force field that was preventing us from leaving should be gone and it was, in its place was Lizbeth Baynham.

_"__Commander, you did it."_

_ "__You lied to me Ms Baynham."_

_ "__What."_

_ "__I found a terminal in there, you're not some low researcher. You're in charge of the Thorian project. Why didn't you tell me this?"_

_ "__Because you may have left me there. I'm sorry Commander."_

_ "__Accepted, what's the Thorian?"_

_ "__The Thorian is a plant like creature and it has mind control capabilities."_

_ "__Mind control?"_

_ "__Only after pro-longed exposure to its spores."_

_ "__Where is the Thorian?"_

_ "__It's situated underneath Zhu's Hope."_

_ "__Come with us Ms Baynham, we're going back to the colony."_

Once back in the Mako we headed back down the skyway towards the colony. As we reached the weigh station another voice was heard of the radio.

_"__Please is there anybody out there..."_

_ "__...Get her away from that radio."_

_ "__Mother. Stop the Mako."_

As the Mako made a quick stop Lizbeth jumped out and headed down the ramp towards the weigh station. We quickly jumped out and followed her down the ramp. Hiding behind some crates we listened into the conversation that was happening. Clearly Ethan had lost his mind talking about a neutron purge.

_"__Get away from her you bastard."_

_ "__Who's there? Come out all of you."_

As we came out of cover, Ethan's face sunk.

_"__Commander, I was hoping the Geth would have killed you."_

_ "__Nice to see you to."_

As we walked down the ramp Lizbeth ran towards her mother. Wrapping her up in a hug.

_"__What's going on?"_

_ "__Exogeni want no trace of this facility. They're initiating a neutron purge of the facility."_

_ "__What about the colony?"_

_ "__They don't matter. We can't let the galaxy now about what we've done."_

_ "__You mean the Thorian."_

_ "__You're not supposed to know about that Commander. But yes the Thorian."_

_ "__At least let us try and safe the colonists."_

_ "__No, no one is going anywhere."_

With that he drew a gun on the Commander.

_"__Ethan, this is going too far. You can't just sacrifice the lives of the many just to hide the crimes that your company has done. Give me the gun."_

_ "__The Thorian cannot be exposed."_

_ "__Even if you initiate a neutron purge the Thorian will be exposed. And your company will be seen as criminals and everyone will be arrested. I'll make sure of it. But if you lower your gun then we can save the colony and exterminate the Thorian. That way Exogeni come out as the good guys saving the colony. Which would you rather do?"_

_ "__Alright Commander. We'll do it your way."_

_ "__Time to go kill a plant."_

_ "__Commander, what about the colonists?"_

_ "__What about them Williams?"_

_ "__If they're under the influence of the Thorian then they are unaware of their actions. There must be a way to save them."_

_ "__We have a way Commander. Use this on your grenades. It will release a gas that will knock them unconscious. Once you've dealt with the Thorian they should walk up free of its influence."_

_ "__All right we'll do that then. Stock up on grenades team."_

We climbed back into the Mako and made our way back down the skyway. When we reached the other side the garage door was shut. The only button being outside the Mako we piled out again. In front of the door there was some kind of gray plant. As we moved closer the plant moved it turned into a humanoid shape upon seeing us it ran at us just like one of those things from Eden Prime but more organic. It reached the Commander and started to throw up green bile which managed to drain the Commanders shields. A quick shotgun blast from Wrex threw it backwards.

_"__What the hell was that?"_

_ "__No idea. But it's safe to say they're not friendly. Shoot to kill."_

_ "__What about the colonists?"_

_ "__Use your grenades on the colonists, but watch your fire. We don't need any dead colonists."_

A quick press of the button and the door opened up, revealing to us more of the organic husks and several colonists hidden behind cover. The husks were defeated easily but the colonists proved to be a bigger problem. Having us pinned down we couldn't exactly fire back or even try and throw a grenade at them.

_"__Wrex can you use stasis?"_

_ "__I'm a biotic Krogan, what do you think?"_

As the Krogan activated his biotics his skin started to glow. His blue aura spread forth and wrapped the colonists in stasis allowing us to move closer and plant the grenade. We moved safely away from the colonists and Wrex let go of their stasis but by that time it was too late for them. As soon as they were out the Commander activated the grenade knocking them unconscious. We turned towards the elevator and headed down towards the colony. As soon as we got off the elevator more colonist were waiting for us, a quick grenade to either side of them ended their attack. We encountered more resistance once we reached the colony, not just by the colonists but there were more of those organic husks as well. We quickly found that they also fell to the gas from the grenades. As we made our way through the colony towards the supposed location of the Thorian we encountered more and more resistance. We rounded the corner and found the rest of the colonists waiting for us. They were guarding a control panel.

_"__Commander, that control panel, should be the crane controls."_

_ "__I see it Chief."_

With that we threw the last of our grenades towards the gathered colonists. As the grenades detonated the gas was released managing to get every civilian, and some of the organic husks. The left we brought down with gun fire. It was quick and easy, leaving nothing left standing. As the Commander activated the control panel Fai Dan appeared. His gun drawn but by his side he approached the Commander.

_"__We didn't mean for it to go this far. But the Thorian it creeps into your mind unknowingly and subdues. There's no saving us now, we're too far gone. We're not accountable for our actions."_

With those final words he placed the gun to his temple and fired. As his body dropped to the floor we moved towards the opening that the crane had given us and headed down.

_"__All we have to do is find this plant and kill it?"_

_ "__Yeah, how big can it be..."_

_ "__This is going to be a problem."_

The Thorian wasn't just a plant it was an enormous plant. Roots as thick as a Krogan sprouted from it and attached to the walls, here there and everywhere. It was monstrous. As we moved closer the plant seemed to convulse like it was throwing up. From what could be said was its mouth came this figure. An Asari.

_"__Defilers. You will not leave her alive."_

_ "__We want to know why Saren came here."_

_ "__Saren came to trade, he was to give us freedom for information and he betrayed us. As soon as he got what he wanted he left us. We won't have that happen again."_

_ "__All we want is the knowledge you gave Saren we have no intention of harming you."_

_ "__Damage is already done. You shall not get what you want nor shall you leave."_

With that the Asari used her biotics in order to throw us backwards. As soon as she started to open fire then more organic husks appeared and charged us. Wrex decided it was up to him to take on the Asari leaving us to the husks. The husks fell quickly, every blast leaving one down and another one to take its place. Quickly looking towards Wrex it was clear that he had the upper hand, his biotics were throwing the Asari about. As her strength faded Wrex took the last advantage and used his biotics to throw her over the ledge. With a quick grin he turned and charged into the remaining husks.

_"__So the easy part done, how do we defeat that?"_

_ "__Good question, try the roots."_

_ "__The roots?"_

_ "__From the looks of things it holding the Thorian up so if we weaken them, it should collapse."_

_ "__The roots it is Commander."_

We moved closer to the first root and held a shotgun to it and fired. As soon as the shot hit the root came away from the wall and the Thorian screamed.

_"__Heh-heh. That worked Shepard lets go find another."_

Wrex was enjoying this, but he was Krogan. As we moved round and down the Thorian we came across more organic husks and strangely more Asari, but they all had the same markings on their face identifying her as the same one we defeated earlier. As more roots were removed the Thorian began to quiver due to the strain of trying to stay up with little to hold it. As Wrex destroyed the last root the Thorian fell down the chasm it was hanging over. Even a plant wouldn't be able to survive something like that. With a loud thud it hit the bottom of the floor.

_"__Grenade."_

_ "__Wrex?"_

_ "__Just to make sure."_

_ "__Do it."_

With confirmation received Wrex dropped several grenades down the chasm and waited till he heard them hit the bottom. As soon as they hit the bottom they detonated. It may have been overkill but with something like the Thorian it's better to be safe than sorry. With that done we turned to leave, but we were drawn to one side as a pod on the wall opened and with it came an Asari. She had the same facial markings as the one's that had been attacking us earlier.

_"__Please don't harm me."_

_ "__Who are you?"_

_ "__My name is Shiala."_

_ "__What are you doing here Shiala?"_

_ "__I came here with Saren and Matriarch Benezia. We came to get the Cipher."_

_ "__The Cipher?"_

_ "__Saren encountered a Protheon Beacon on Eden Prime, but the vision wasn't complete. In order to understand the information a cipher was needed. The vision hinted at a creature that had lived through the last cycle and was contained on this planet. Saren used me as a means of communicating with the Thorian. Once he had what was needed he left. Leaving me as a prisoner of the Thorian."_

_ "__Did he get what he wanted?"_

_ "__Yes, the cipher was given unto him by the Thorian."_

_ "__Dam. We need that information."_

_ "__I still retain the information. If you are willing I could join with you and pass the information on."_

_ "__Do it."_

_ "__Clear your mind Commander. Look into the void and EMBRACE ETERNITY."_

We watched as the Asari's eyes turned black and her hand came into contact with the Commanders cheek. What had only begun a few seconds ago quickly came to an end as she removed her hand.

_"__What you saw Commander was the cipher working. It will take time for it make sense, but it is the beginning."_

_ "__Thank you Shiala. What will you do now?"_

_ "__I don't know. I'd like to be able to make up for what I've done."_

_ "__You could come with us."_

_ "__Are you sure?"_

With a nod of her head, she agreed. It was a lot to take. The woman that had been recently shooting at us was now going to be joining us. She must have been sincere in her wish to make up for what she'd done; either that or something was conveyed across when they melded. But she was part of the crew and we headed back towards the colony. When we reached the colony Lizbeth Baynham and her mother were waiting for us.

_"__Thanks for everything you've done Commander. Only a few would have saved as many as you did. You have our thanks."_

The only colonist that hadn't made it was Fai Dan but at least that wasn't our doing. We had managed to save everyone else. As we walked through the colony there were several shouts of thanks, being thrown around by the colonists. It felt good to be thanked for something we had done; no doubt the council would see it differently. As soon as we made it onboard the Normandy, the Commander took Shiala down to see the Doctor. Leaving the rest of us to remove our armour and weapons in the cargo bay. As soon as we had stored it all away the Commander came over the radio.

_"__Full team debrief in the comm room, five minutes."_

There was no point in hanging about so we made our way up to the comm room. As we waited for everybody else to arrive, the Commander walked in with Shiala. Shortly followed by the rest of the team.

_"__It seems that Saren has been here. To cut a long story short, there was a life form on this planet called the Thorian. It's over fifty thousand years old. It lived through the Protheon-Reaper war and had access to the Protheon cipher. This cipher should be able to allow me to process and understand the vision from the beacon. For those of you who might have noticed, this is Shiala. She was a commando under Matriarch Benezia. She is her for the same reasons that you are. It was from her that I gained the Protheon Cipher."_

_ "__You joined with her?"_

_ "__Yes I did Liara. It was the only way to get the cipher."_

_ "__I see. I remember you Shiala. The Commando was always two steps behind my mother. Her personal protection, not that she really needed anything. She was a powerful biotic. Why did you follow her to Saren?"_

_ "__I followed her for the same reason that she left. We thought that we would be able to turn Saren from his path. He allowed us to stay and see if we could accomplish what we set out for. We failed. As soon as the Matriarch became indoctrinated it didn't take long for us to fall as well. We did the bidding of Saren. When Saren left me in the possession of the Thorian, I felt nothing. I had done what he wanted. Nothing more and nothing less. My time with the Thorian erased the indoctrination; I became a thrall to the Thorian. Kept in a cocoon and copied. Those Asari that you thought, we're my genetic clones. When you defeated the Thorian and I came out of the cocoon, it was the first time since we joined Saren that I had felt completely free of anybodies influence. When I joined with the Commander, I saw her fight and I wanted to be a part of it. Hence why I am here, little wing."_

_ "__How did you know that?"_

_ "__Your mother was proud of you, even though she may not have told you. Even in her indoctrinated state she remembered you. Often calling you little wing. I think part of her still remains but for how long I cannot say."_

_ "__Thank you Shiala. I had hoped something of her remained."_

* * *

**_What did you think? It took a while to arrive, but I'm doing this whilst I'm at work. So sometimes naturally I have to do something else. The longest chapter I've done yet. There was a lot to fit in. Especially with making a character that you see only once throughout the game a more important significant character. It's going to be fun. Once again any comments send them my way. Please review, and let me know what you think. The next chapter will be here when its ready._**


	10. Chapter 10 - Acceptance

**Acceptance**

Allers: _I have to say Commander I wasn't expecting that. At the time there were only rumours about what happened on Feros. We were told it was the Geth that were to blame._

Ashley: _The Geth were to blame, but they weren't the only liable party. Exogeni still hold half of the blame. In a way if it wasn't for Exogeni keeping the Thorian a secret then it might have been different._

Allers: _Maybe Commander. But now we'll never know. At least you had the information you needed and another crew member._

Ashley: _That we did._

Allers: _I take it you weren't too pleased about Shiala coming aboard._

Ashley: _No. As crew mates go she was a liability. Not only had she been under the command of Matriarch Benezia but she became indoctrinated. And was then a slave to the Thorian, who had removed the indoctrination. Which we only had her word about. There was a lot of bad to negate the good._

Allers: _Surely the same could be said about some of your later crew mates._

Ashley: _True. Even know though Shiala was different._

* * *

The Normandy was heading back to the Citadel. Its mission complete, the Council wanted a word face to face with the Commander. Whereas we wanted a word with Shiala. It's hard to accept a new teammate, especially when not so long ago their clones were shooting at you. How do you accept the change? We'd been told to make her feel welcome but first we needed to get some things out in the open. Wrex had told Shiala to meet everyone down in the cargo bay for a proper introduction. We were all waiting for her in the cargo bay. When the elevator opened and she stepped out, she immediately saw us and made her way over. She had that arrogant walk that all Asari have, like she was the top of the food chain and nothing could harm her. I had a Krogan next to me who would have begged to differ.

_"__Shiala."_

_ "__Wrex."_

_ "__Pleasantries over, what is your intent here?"_

_ "__My intent?"_

_ "__Not long ago you were trying to kill us."_

_ "__I wasn't trying to do anything. They were my genetic clones, made from the Thorian. I didn't control them."_

_ "__They were still you. How can we trust you?"_

_ "__Trust me, why should I trust all of you?"_

_ "__I'll tell you why because we saved you from the Thorian. We were all handpicked by the Commander to serve under her in the battle against Saren. Who are you to just walk in and announce your coming with us?"_

_ "__The Commander agreed to it."_

_ "__But only after you'd been inside her mind."_

_ "__All I did was give her the Protheon Cipher, anything more than that and I would have perished with the joining."_

_ "__You were that far gone Shiala."_

_ "__I was Liara. Every time the Thorian created a clone it drained my life essence. I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker. I f you hadn't have killed it when you did then I don't think I would have survived the next creation." _

_ "__So you were a prisoner then, both to the indoctrination and the Thorian?"_

_ "__That's one way of looking at it Liara. I had no free will and no control over my body. But thanks to you I am free and I wish to help out anywhere that I can."_

_ "__Then why here? You could have stayed on Feros and helped the colonists."_

_ "__I wouldn't know where to begin in helping them out. I'm an Asari Commando my specialities are better suited here, with you."_

_ "__Show us then."_

_ "__Show you?"_

_ "__Your skills. Biotics, weapons training."_

_ "__Yeah Garrus, needs to know whether he's still the second best shot compared to Shepard."_

_ "__Very funny Wrex. To the armoury then Shiala, let's see you in action."_

We all made our way to the armoury in order to see an Asari Commando in action. As we walked over to the armoury we all separated into our individual groups. Wrex, Garrus and Shiala all went into the armoury to log out a weapon each. Kaiden and I went to set up the targets, leaving Liara and Tali to hang around waiting for the combatants to emerge. We set up four different targets all at different ranges, setting up the basic range for an Alliance training ground plus the limited area in the cargo bay.

_"__Lt how about we set up some difficult ones as well."_

_ "__What do you have in mind Ash?"_

_ "__Place them all around the cargo bay, some partially hidden from view, some in plain sight and the rest randomly placed. Make it more difficult."_

_ "__Good idea Ash. Liara keep Garrus, Wrex and Shiala in the armoury until we've finished setting up. Tali, if I give you some targets will you place them around the cargo, hide some of them and put the others in view?"_

_ "__I can do Kaiden. Give me a couple of minutes."_

A few minutes later Wrex, Garrus and Shiala had emerged from the armoury. All three of them held a pistol with a scope attached. Even with just a pistol in her hands she looked like she meant business.

_"__We've got three separate challenges. The first being the firing range, the second is a biotic challenge and the third is another firing range. Wrex you'll go first followed by Shiala then followed by Garrus. There'll be no breaks in between the challenges, I'll lead you in the two firing ranges and Liara will lead you in the biotic challenge. Apart from Garrus."_

With Kaidens speech done Wrex took up his first position at the beginning of the firing range. Kaiden with his omni-tool ready to time it, he gave Wrex his first instruction. It was simple one shot per target. A bulls-eye gave the competitor 2 points and hitting the target anywhere else gave them 1 point. Wrex went straight into it; he fired four shots directly after each other hitting every target. From there he moved onto Liara's biotic challenge the objective was to hit all four moving targets with a biotic warp first time. He managed to hit three of the four targets with his warps and moved onto the final challenge.

_"__Excluding the four targets you've already hit, there are ten more targets spread out around the cargo bar. The same rules as before apply. One bullet per target also you may not move from this spot. Garrus, Shiala excuse yourselves from the cargo bay for the time being."_

Wrex used all ten bullets allowed as he searched for the targets. Several of them fell to his bullets and others were just missed. With one target just staying out of his eyesight. It fell to Tali and me to pick up the targets, count the bulls-eyes and contacts and then replace the targets. When we came back, we sent the final amount to Kaidens omni-tool.

_"__Well done Wrex. Go retrieve Garrus and Shiala."_

It was then down to Shiala to show her skills, she immediately fell to the floor and aimed at the targets, scoring herself four bulls-eyes. Moving quickly on to the biotic challenge she faired fairly well matching Wrex for three out of four targets hit. When she started the final round Garrus and Wrex left the cargo bay and she concentrated on the targets. Unlike Wrex she took her time and sought out the targets and carefully aimed towards the targets. Once her ten bullets were spent we went to work again counting the shots and replacing the targets. With the information sent direct to Kaiden again, he sent her away to get Garrus.

_"__Garrus, because you can't compete in the biotic round we've placed two extra targets for the final round. Enabling you to have the same maximum score as everyone else."_

He began his first round straight away. His precision showed through as he hit four bulls-eyes and moved straight to the final round. For this Wrex and Shiala removed themselves from the cargo bay and let Garrus concentrate on his fourteen targets. He slowly started to scan the area for the targets. Whenever he found one he immediately fired and moved on to the next. Systematically bringing down targets only finishing when his fourteen rounds had been fired. We collected up the targets and sent the findings through to Kaiden who asked Wrex and Shiala to come back.

_"__Maximum points achievable are thirty-two. Wrex you achieved twenty-four, nine bulls-eyes all together, three hits and the three biotic targets. You also missed two targets. Shiala you achieved thirty, that's thirteen bulls-eyes, one hit and the three biotic targets. Garrus you achieved thirty-one. That's fifteen bulls-eyes and one hit. You're still the second best shot, but only just."_

_ "__Very funny Alenko."_

With the show over and done with we packed everything up and we accepted her. Even if there still was some nagging feeling saying not trust her. She showed that she could handle herself well with weapons and biotics. She showed promise and would definitely be able to help us during our mission. After all she was an Asari commando. After everything was away the guys left leaving us four girls to ourselves. It had been a long day for all of us and we headed to our quarters. As we left Shiala followed as she had nowhere to go. When we reached our quarters she followed us in and we had a quick look at available space, and the same thought must have approached us all as we nodded in unison. Several minutes later we had managed to bring in a spare bed from storage for Shiala. She voiced her thanks and very quickly fell asleep. Leaving the rest of us awake.

_"__What do you think Liara?"_

_ "__She's good, she shown that she's competent and efficient with weapons and biotics. She should prove herself on every mission she goes on."_

_ "__Tali?"_

_ "__She's shown that she's good, but can we trust her after everything she's done. Ash?"_

_ "__I don't know anymore Tali. At first I was completely against it, I mean she was shooting at us not that long ago. But then the fact that Shepard trusts her enough to bring her onboard says a lot about her. But I still have a nagging feeling not to trust her. Even though she's proven herself. I think once she's been on a mission we'll find out. But she seems okay."_

_ "__So what do we do know then?"_

_ "__For the moment nothing, just get to know her better. Once she's proven herself on the next mission. There's nothing we can do."_

* * *

**It's a short chapter I realise, but I think it was necessary. Shiala only ever had a small role in the game, but in my world she's a lot more. If you found that she was going to be you team mate after everything that had happened how would you react?**

**The next chapter will come up soon, might be a while yet, looking to do a longer chapter, plus my band has a gig coming up so my concentration is in other places at the moment. As usual please review.**


	11. Chapter 11 - Noveria Part 1

Allers: _It sounds like you accepted her in the end then._

Ashley: _We did. But it wasn't until after the next mission that her allegiance was confirmed._

Allers: _What was your next mission?_

Ashley: _Noveria._

Allers: _Did your visit coincide with the problems at Peak 15?_

Ashley: _We arrived after the problems started. With Noveria not being part of Council space they have extensive labs that conduct research and experiments the civilized world wouldn't dream of._

Allers: _Such as Commander?_

Ashley: _Rachni._

* * *

We had been in FTL for couple of days making our way towards Noveria. No one had spoken to the Commander since she had returned from seeing the Council, the only order she gave was to Joker. As for the rest of us we all had our own issues to be getting on with. At that moment I was currently in the armoury making sure that my weapon was up to scratch. Whilst going over the barrel Joker came over the radio.

_"__Errr, Ground Team the Commander wants to see you all in the Comm room."_

That was unusual. Not the fact that the Commander wanted to see us, but the fact that Joker was the one to tell us. Something had clearly put the Commander in a bad mood, no doubt it was the Council. As we all gathered in the Comm room we ended up having to wait for the Commander. After several minutes she walked and the briefing began.

_"__I realise I've been distant of late since seeing the Council. But I've needed time to think, in this time we've disobeyed the Councils orders. Not that any of you knew what they were. Firstly they gave us new intel on Saren. An STG team were sent to Virmire to infiltrate a facility which has been suspected of working with Saren, since then however the team has gone dark, our orders are to find out what happened to them. Since we've still got the lead on Noveria to follow that's where Joker is taking us and our ETA is ten minutes. I want all of you on the ground for this mission."_

_ "__So what did you disobey then?"_

_ "__The order I disobeyed concerned Shiala." _As one we all turned towards Shiala, it was like we all had the same idea. _"The Council wanted me to turn you over to them. Apparently you would have been better suited to a C-Sec cell under interrogation than onboard the Normandy. Sparatus was practically calling for blood. I was ordered to return to the Normandy__and hand you over to C-Sec. But my first order once aboard was to set a course for Noveria. I argued your case Shiala but they wouldn't listen. So here we are. Any questions?"_

_ "__You did all that for me Commander? You disobeyed the Council for me?"_

_ "__The Council may speak for the betterment of the galaxy, but I speak for the Normandy. You'll be an asset to the crew Shiala if I didn't think you would be I'd have left you on Feros."_

_ "__What happens when we touchdown Shepard?"_

_ "__We find a way to Peak 15 and find out what's going on."_

_ "__Something tells me this is going to go well."_

Garrus always the smart mouth. This time though he was right, what the Commander had said wasn't much of a plan. But it was what we were going to do. As the briefing ended Joker came over the radio and told us we were approaching Noveria. The Commander made her way to the bridge and we all headed down to the armoury to gear up. As the Normandy was in the process of docking we made our way up to the airlock by the bridge. With all hands on deck we headed towards the Noveria Processing centre. Where we were met by three armed guards.

_"__Stand down and relinquish your weapons."_

_ "__You're not taking our weapons."_

_ "__No admittance without relinquishing you weapons. What's your business here?"_

_ "__Spectre business."_

_ "__Horseshit ma'am, there's no human spectre."_

_ "__Captain Matsuo stand down, Spectre status confirmed." _A voice suddenly interrupted over the port comm system. _"Carry on Commander."_

With that we were allowed to move into the port, security stepping away. Once we were in the port building was when we met the voice of the comm.

_"__Commander Shepard, Gianna Parasini I work for Administrator Anoleis. You've been given clearance to carry weapons whilst on Noveria, is there anything I can help you with?"_

_ "__We're hoping to reach Peak 15 and investigate the communication black out."_

_ "__I'm sorry Commander that area is currently in lockdown due to a storm raging out on the pass. No ones being allowed access, the owner has already sent a Matriarch Benezia ahead in order to solve it."_

_ "__Benezia's here."_

_ "__She came through a couple of days ago, with a squad of Asari commandos. As the representative for Binary Helix she was allowed complete access to the Peak 15 research station."_

_ "__Will Anoleis see us?"_

_ "__You're a Spectre he can't refuse. Take the elevator down and follow the signs Commander."_

We made our way over to the elevator and as we waited it Liara spoke up.

_"__Commander I presume at this point you'd want to talk to me."_

_ "__What about Liara?"_

_ "__My mother is here Commander..."_

_ "__You're not your mother Liara. If I thought you were a liability, you wouldn't be here. Now please remove this doubt from your mind. You're here because of who you are, not because of your mother. We'll take two elevators down, Garrus, Wrex and Kaiden you're with me. We'll go straight to see Anoleis. Ash, Liara, Shiala and Tali we'll meet you in the hotel lounge afterwards."_

As the Commander finished the first lift arrived and they promptly got in and headed down. It wasn't long before a second lift had arrived and we all piled in. The ride down was quick, definitely quicker than the Normandy lift. Once the lift doors opened we all moved out and headed towards the hotel lounge which ended up with us having to take another lift upwards. After arriving at the in the hotel lounge we all moved towards a table on the fair side of the room, from there we could look out at the rest of the room. Chosen for a more military reasoning than pleasure. As soon as we sat down we broke out into conversation, mainly about Liara's mother and making sure that Liara was really okay with it.

_"__Are you sure your okay with all this Liara?"_

_ "__I'm fine Tali; I knew that we would eventually encounter my mother. I've made preparations for this; no doubt Shiala has done the same."_

_ "__I have Liara. Although my bond to Benezia isn't genetic like yours it is still rather strong. Since I've been aboard the Normandy__I've been creating new bonds and these will help me when the time comes."_

_ "__What are these bonds?"_

_ "__The bonds are our way of connecting to one another, an Asari is genetically bonded to their mother. This connection allows the mother to always know where their child, but this connection can be turned off or even ignored. When it comes to friends there is always a slight bond even if they are not Asari. The bond in this regard doesn't actually do anything, but we know it's there and in times of need we can find shelter within these bonds. Then the third bond is that between an Asari and their life mate."_

_ "__So are you saying you both have this bond with all of us?"_

_ "__The bond exists with all of the crew; it is stronger with those in this group and even stronger within the Commander and you Ash."_

_ "__Me?"_

_ "__Yes, whilst the Commander is the overall leader of the group and he has our loyalty and friendship making the bond much stronger. The connection with you is different again, within this little group you are the alpha. We are the only females amongst the ground crew and whether you like it or not we all look towards you as the unofficial leader of us."_

I had no idea that I was seen as the unofficial leader of the women. After taking it in, it all made sense. I'd always taken the lead when it came to choices and the conversations. It was even on my insistence that we all shared a room and they had all picked up on it.

_"__You had no idea did you Ash?"_

_ "__None whatsoever."_

Our conversation was interrupted as the Commander came in over the radio.

_**"**__**Williams its Shepard come in."**_

**_ "_**_Williams here Commander."_

**_ "_****_We've spoken with Anoleis, he's not going to help us. We've been given two leads by Gianna Parasini. We'll follow one and you follow the other. Apparently there's a Turian called Lorik'Quin in the hotel lounge. He's got problems and a garage pass that he might be willing to part with. That one's yours. We've got a Hanar to find."_**

_"__Understood Commander, good hunting."_

In what way could a Hanar possibly help out? At least that wasn't our problem we had to find a Turian. With their only being one Turian in the entire room that would be our man. I quickly explained the situation to the rest of my team and we all went over to the Turian.

_"__Lorik'Quin?"_

_ "__Who wants to know?"_

_ "__I'm Gunnery Chief Williams. I understand that you're looking for some help."_

_ "__You've heard right then Commander. My business Synthetic Insights has been closed down by Anoleis. His thugs are currently helping themselves to anything they can find, they are ruining my business destroying anything they don't understand. I require your services in order to remove this infestation and collect the data that my company was working on."_

_ "__What's the catch?"_

_ "__Anoleis thugs, well they're part of the guard. Corrupt individuals who are in it for the money. Do you have any problems with that?"_

_ "__Dirty cops we can handle."_

He gave us the coordinates for his offices and we set off. We followed the elevator back down towards the ground floor and headed towards the garage. Once we reached the coordinates given to us, we opened the final door into Synthetic Insights. The first thing that greeted was the sight of two of Anoleis' thugs guarding the front door. Before they could react to our presence Tali dispatched them both with two quick shotgun blasts. Alerting everybody else in the nearby vicinity. It wasn't long before we had more thugs arriving from the different sections of the complex. They had us pinned down by the entrance but not for long. Tali used her override capability and removed the shields of the nearest combatant. This followed by a quick burst of rifle fire quickly brought an end to the nearest thug. Whilst we did this Liara and Shiala were combining their biotics. Liara would place a singularity at a group of enemies and then Shiala would throw a biotic warp at the singularity causing it to explode and leave the enemies decimated. It was brutal but it was very effective and it quickly decimated the ranks of Anoleis' thugs. When the numbers finally dwindled we moved out of cover and headed up the stairs towards the offices dealing with any resistance that was left. We made it to Lorik'Quins office with no more incidents and quickly downloaded the data that he was after. It was on our return journey that we found more trouble.

_"__Well well, look what we have here. Do you know what we did to cop killers on my world."_

_ "__Your dirty cops taking money on the side from Anoleis."_

_ "__That maybe, but we can't allow you to leave. Kill them."_

With that Sergeant Stirlings men opened fire. There was only five of them, but with Stirling being a biotic it was made up for the difference. Through my comm channel I advised everyone to concentrate their fire on the biotic. With that Sergeant Stirlings men opened fire. There was only five of them, but with Stirling being a biotic it was made up for the difference. Through my comm channel I advised everyone to concentrate their fire on the biotic. Her shields wouldn't be able to take everything that we could throw at her and soon as they collapsed she would be ours. We left it Shiala and Liara to take out her shields with two well placed singularities. Which quickly dropped her shields, which then left Tali to place a well aimed shotgun blast to her torso. As the Sergeant's body landed on the ground her comrades picked up the slag and started towards us. They were in such a rage that they forgot about the singularities which soon exploded and ended their attack. It was time to leave.

We left synthetic insights in the exact manor that we arrived through the elevator back to the main level. It was upon disembarking the elevator that we were met by Gianna Parasini.

_"__What's going on up there?"_

_ "__It's properly Anoleis thugs roughing up the businesses."_

_ "__Be careful what you say Chief. Meet me in the hotel lounge before you see Lorik'Quin."_

We made our way back to the hotel lounge and took up our previous seats and waited for our targets to arrive.

_"__What do we do, give it straight to Lorik'Quin or see Parasini first?"_

_ "__There's no harm in seeing what Parasini has to say before we make up our mind Ash."_

_ "__Good idea Liara."_

We chatted and we waited. It was Gianna Parasini who arrived first and headed straight towards us. She arrived promptly and sat herself down in the empty chair.

_"__Well?"_

_ "__I work for Noveria Internal Affairs, we've been after Anoleis for years. The board know about his extra activities but every time we get a good lead something always happens to remove it. What you've acquired might be the best lead we've had in yours. With that data we could remove Anoleis from his role. Plus if you could get Lorik'Quin to testify to Anoleis activities then he would go down for life."_

_ "__We need Lorik'Quins garage pass."_

_ "__He's not the only one with a garage pass; if you do this you'll get your garage pass from the board."_

A quick look around the table told me all I needed to know, everyone nodded their head in approval.

_"__We'll see what we can do. Have a drink; we've still got to wait for him to arrive."_

By the time Lorik'Quin arrived we had started to grow restless. For a man who didn't have a business anymore he was certainly a busy bee. We signalled him to come join us and to sit down next Gianna. When he reached us you could easily see that he was worn out, something had been keeping him busy.

_"__We have what you wanted, but Ms Parasini has another suggestion?"_

_ "__Now that you have it, you're going to dictate what I am to do with it."_

_ "__If needs be, just listen."_

_ "__If you'll except, Noveria Internal Affairs would like to use your data in order to bring down Anoleis. It could make or break the case."_

_ "__Fine, you can have the data, since I don't really have much of a choice."_

With that he left and skulked away to find his own table and drown away the misery that we had clearly caused. He wasn't the only one to leave, shortly afterwards Gianna got up to leave as well to take the data to her superiors.

_"__Come down to Anoleis' office in two hours to see the show."_

It was time we checked in with the Commander, bringing up my omni-tool I called into her comm channel.

_"__Commander, we've got the garage pass."_

_ "__Good work Ash, that's more than we've got. Never try to work with a Hanar."_

_ "__There's something you'll want to see at Anoleis' office, be there in a couple of hours and you'll be rewarded."_

_ "__Roger that Ash, we'll be there."_

* * *

**_A/N_****I don't know about this chapter, I'm not overly fond of it. It's there because it's a necessity, other than that I would have bypassed it. Currently working on another story at the same time now, so updates may be infrequent, the flames of creativity are currently burning for my other story, but I'll be back to work on this.**


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